THE Government’s 50 percent VAT rate slash on imported unprepared foods will place Bahamian farmers at “a serious disadvantage” and is counter to its sector policy, an agricultural entrepreneur argued yesterday.
Caron Shepherd, the Bahamas Agro Entrepreneurs Group’s president, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration’s bid to further ease the cost of living crisis for Bahamian consumers via a VAT break for the entire supply chain will make it even more challenging for local farmers and producers to compete on price with lower-cost imports.
Pointing out that Bahamian agriculture is still faced with having to import raw materials, fertilizers, animal feed and equipment at the standard, higher 10 percent VAT, she urged the Government to “immediately” cut or eliminate this levy entirely to enable local farmers to be more competitive and reduce their operating costs.
And, asserting that farmers always seem to face “an uphill fight” with the Government, Ms Shepherd said the imported food VAT cut again seemed to run counter to the Government’s official agricultural policy of boosting domestic production, reducing food imports by up to 25 percent, enhancing food security and retaining more of tourism’s earnings within the Bahamian economy.
Speaking after she wrote a March 9, 2025, letter to Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, outlining her own and the industry’s concerns,
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE US government is asserting that The Bahamas “lacks... political will” to fully crack down on financial crime with this nation representing a “low risk” haven for fraudsters and corrupt individuals.
The State Department, unveiling its annual international narcotics control strategy (INCSR) report for 2025, critcised the lack of prosecutions and convictions for money laundering and other financial-related crimes while acknowledging that Bahamian regulators had “imposed” almost $220m in so-called administrative penalties on licensed financial institutions in 2024 for legal and supervisory breaches.
Suggesting that many of these penalties are in “settlement negotiations” between licensee and regulator, the report also asserted that Bahamian law enforcement
‘Caught
agencies and prosecutors are too timid to use all the tools available to them in pursuing complex financial crimes and seizing assets that are the proceeds of criminal activities.
The State Department report’s contents will likely further raise the temperature in US-Bahamas relations following the Trump administration’s threat to revoke visas for foreign government politicians and officials involved with bringing Cuban workers - including doctors, nurses
in the crossfire’:
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GRAND Bahama Power Company is suffering a “very real impact” from the delay in reviewing and approving its proposed new rate structure after getting “caught in the crossfire”, it was disclosed yesterday.
Dave McGregor, the electricity utility’s president, told Tribune Business that failing to obtain the go-ahead for its planned 6.3 percent base rate rise by the January 1, 2025, target date has “reduced our
and teachers - to work in this nation.
“While The Bahamas makes efforts to improve its money laundering/terrorist financing enforcement capabilities, its investigations often do not result in prosecutions or convictions. Improved inter-institutional co-ordination and strong political will are necessary to defend its financial institutions from criminal intrusions,” the US report said.
Acknowledging that The Bahamas’ 700-island
geography leaves it “vulnerable to firearms trafficking, drug trafficking and migrant smuggling,” the State Department signalled its belief that the authorities are not doing sufficient to prosecute financial crimes and seize assets, such as real estate and cash, that may have been derived from such illicit activities.
“The Bahamas suffers from domestic fraud schemes and transnational criminal activities. A limited number of asset seizures and financial prosecutions have resulted in a vulnerable banking system, gaming industry, virtual currencies and luxury real estate market,” the US report argued.
“The lack of convictions and asset forfeiture make The Bahamas a low-risk base of operations for many sophisticated fraudsters, including corrupt actors. Despite extensive training and improved investigative
GB Power hit by rate rise delay
cash position” and forced it to cut-back and hold off on the network investments that were planned. Revealing that GB Power is “not earning what we should be”, due to a combination of cost increases and the forecast rebound in revenues and customers failing to materialise, he added that it had still managed to improve generation reliability “a lot” over the last three to four months to put last summer’s frequent outages firmly in the past.
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor
A BAHAMIAN insurer yesterday said it is targeting “non-catastrophe” business lines for growth in a bid to escape continued reinsurance pricing pressures that have impacted recent profits and operating results.
Timothy Ingraham, chief executive of Summit Insurance Company, through which Insurance Management Company places much of its property and casualty
business, told Tribune Business that it was impossible to predict how long “restricted capacity” in the global reinsurance market will persist and impact local premium prices.
Speaking after AM Best, the global insurance rating agency, reaffirmed both Summit’s financial strength and creditworthiness, he disclosed that the property and casualty underwriter has “carefully managed the headwinds” since paying
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
in Parliament before the May Budget unveiling. Ryan Pinder KC, speaking at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Bahamas conference, said changes to the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA) will allow the nation to prepare for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF’s)
panies and trustees with respect to beneficial owners, with respect to settlers, with respect to protectors and anybody else who would have some sort of effective control over the trust,” said Mr Pinder.
“You now will be fully brought into the FTRA with respect to these parties
CARON SHEPHERD
‘BUILD THE ECONOMY’ THROUGH PERMANENT RESIDENCY REFORM
A PROMINENT real-
tor is urging The Bahamas to reform permanent residency by launching a ‘Start-Up Visa’ programme as a tool that “builds the economy”.
Mario Carey, principal of MCR Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Bahamas, in a statement called on this nation to revise the permanent residency regime to ensure it delivers long-term benefits for The Bahamas and its citizens by driving economic growth.
Speaking out following the mid-year Budget debate, and growing concerns over the $12bn-plus national debt, Mr Carey said: “We can use this moment as a call to positive action. If we ask: ‘What can we do to grow the economy organically and ensure a stable future in sustainable sectors that withstand vulnerability to outside pressures?’, the answer is right in front of our eyes.
“It’s the Permanent Residency through the Start-Up Visa Programme, which is already proving successful
MARIO CAREY
in other countries.” This, he explained, would seek to attract the world’s leading investors to The Bahamas, along with entrepreneurs and innovators, who would then obtain status in this nation through investing in and establishing local businesses that employ Bahamians.
This, Mr Carey said, would help The Bahamas move further away from a product where expatriate investors obtained permanent residency simply by purchasing real estate above a set value and had
minimal involvement with the community or economy.
“Generally, we are selling ourselves too cheaply,” he added, “by offering residency for a fee rather than an investment with longterm deep impact. We trade money for the right to live in one of the most desirable places on the planet.
“We should focus on the individual with an innovative idea who can bring investment in industry, education, health care, sports or the arts to make this a better country, and help to build a more robust economy.
“People want to live here, work here, become part of the community. Bahamians educated abroad want to come back, but they feel they can’t – housing is too expensive, good job opportunities too few,” Mr Carey added.
He pointed to Canada, which has a start-up visa programme that requires applicants to have an innovative business concept and show proof they have the ability to design, develop
and launch a new enterprise that will provide jobs, diversify and improve the economy.
“The start-up programme offers a better path to permanent residency than the current Bahamian policy because it builds the economy rather than adding a property investment to the portfolio of the applicant; a property that is often flipped or used for shortterm luxury rentals,” said Mr Carey.
The Government started to move the permanent residency regime towards Mr Carey’s ideal in the 2024-2025 Budget. Besides raising the economic permanent residence threshold to $1m, from $750,000, for persons qualifying by purchasing real estate, it also moved to diversify how wealthy foreign investors can qualify.
In a move long-argued for by the Bahamian financial services, legal and real estate industries, persons are now able to qualify by acquiring “zero coupon bonds” from the Central
Bank. The proceeds will be invested in education, health, Family Island infrastructure development and culture, and not go into the Government’s consolidated fund to finance operational expenses.
And, in a bid to ensure investors value economic permanent residency, become established members of this society and do not abuse this status, the Government said that as a condition of obtaining their permits they must hold either of these assets - real estate or bond - for a minimum ten years. This is designed to prevent rapid ‘flipping’ of the properties they acquire to obtain permanent residency.
Mr Carey yesterday said the current permanent residency programme has outlived its purpose by focusing on a single payment instead of longterm investment and contribution to national development. By tying residency to active participation in economic activity, he argued
Annual Bahamas inflation rate falls flat in December
THE Bahamas’ annual inflation rate was flat in December 2024 to end a run of five consecutive months where it declined year-over-year, official data has disclosed.
The Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI), in unveiling the consumer price index (CPI) for the final month of 2024, also disclosed that overall prices within the local economy
increased by a modest 0.5 percent compared to the prevailing inflation rate in November.
The data, while confirming that inflation and pricing pressures have eased following their rapid growth in COVID-19’s aftermath, suggests the cost of living crisis has not disappeared. And the full impact of the trade and tariff war threatened, and in some
cases already launched, by US president Donald Trump has yet to work its way through the global economy and be fully felt. It will also take some months to be captured by statistics.
“The monthly inflation rate in The Bahamas, which represents the overall change in price for 2024, increased by 0.5 percent when compared to November 2024. This change is
reflected in the overall price of items purchased by the average consumer during this period. This December 2024 increase followed a decrease between the months of October 2024 and November 2024,” the Institute said.
“On a month-to-month, basis, the major increases by group included health, 3.4 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance, 2.7
percent; and miscellaneous and goods, 1.4 percent. Meanwhile, the major decrease was alcoholic beverages that decreased by 0.9 percent.
“Furthermore, for December 2024, the CPI remained constant from the same period last year. However, the major categories that registered increases included alcoholic beverages and tobacco, 3.1 percent; furnishing,
that it will become a tool to fortify the economy, add to government revenues, potentially reduce the tax burden on existing businesses, and attract Bahamians living abroad to return to their homeland.
“We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We can learn from countries around the world adopting the start-up visa initiative because they recognise that it’s the only permanent residency solution that generates long-term financial stability and economic prosperity for its citizens,” said Mr Carey.
“For us, it has the additional advantage of reversing the brain drain because this allows our brilliant minds to return home and work in innovative industries and sophisticated fields that do not exist in The Bahamas today. The time to act is now.”
household and routine household maintenance, 2.9 percent, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels decreased by 2 percent compared to the same period last year,” it added.
“Additionally, for the month of December 2024, both gasoline and diesel recorded decreases of 2.9 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, when compared to this same period last year, gasoline and diesel declined 3.3 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.”
MORE than 500 persons are said to have signed a petition launched by a consultant to a rival resort project urging the Government to protect Exuma’s marine ecosystems from the $200m Rosewood development.
The petition, launched by Eric Carey, a former Bahamas National Trust (BNT) executive director who is now advising the neighbouring Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, is calling on the Davis administration to halt the Yntegra Group’s rival Sampson Cay project.
It argued that Yntegra’s Rosewood-branded project, which plans to subdivide leased Crown Land, poses a potential threat to the area’s environment as a result of
planned marina dredging and other activities.
“The petition urges a halt to the approval process for the project until a comprehensive environmental analysis of the seabed dredging is conducted,” said Mr Carey, an environmental consultant and former BNT executive director.
“The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the recent application for site approval, do not include any analysis of the seabed dredging required for the project. This oversight is critical, as the dredging will directly impact critical marine ecosystems.” The petition was launched just days before last night’s Town Planning Committee public
STEROGYL LTD. In Voluntary Liquidation
NOTICE is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of The International Business Companies Act,
The date of commencement of the dissolution was the 12th day of March A.D., 2025.
Mr. Michael C. Miller, P.O. Box EE-17971, Nassau, Bahamas is the liquidator of STEROGYL LTD. Michael C. Miller Liquidator
consultation over Yntegra’s plans.
Bob Coughlin, the Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club developer, has made multiple appeals to the Government, raising concern about the use of Crown Land for a project that plans to dredge 240,000 cubic yards of wetlands and unknown quantities of seabed to carve out a marina in shallow waters.
“We cannot afford to sit back and let this happen,” said Mr Coughlin. “Dredging Sampson Cay would destroy critical marine habitats and threaten the natural beauty that makes Exuma the treasure that it is. We urge the Bahamian government to protect this land before it’s too late.” Sampson Cay is home to seagrass beds of the sort that the Government plans to use to generate Bahamian blue carbon credits. Mr Coughlin fears that, if the dredging moved forward, this habitat and marine populations including conch hatcheries will be disrupted. Coastal erosion could also result.
Straw vendors ‘pray and hope’ over US tariff fight
By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business
STRAW vendors were yesterday said to be bracing for a drop-off in visitor numbers and reduced tourism business due to the uncertainty created by US trade and economic policy.
Asserting that all her members “could do is pray and hope”, Rebecca Small, president of the Straw Businesspersons Society, told Tribune Business that only 20 percent of vendors in downtown Nassau’s Straw Market are doing fairly well with the other 80 percent struggling to make a profit.
She added that the ongoing tariff dispute between the US, Canada, Mexico
and China will negatively impact tourism in The Bahamas by damaging consumer confidence in this nation’s top visitor source markets. Ms Small said she’s “afraid” that the financial strain vendors carry now now will only worsen if tourism slows.
“All you could do is pray and hope that business picks up,” Ms Small said. There are some people in the market, due to their location, making it and I was just talking to a vendor about two days ago. She said ‘Ms Small, there are a lot of people who are hurting in the market. But there’s a few people who are making it.’ So [it] depends on where you are located. You can make it, but the majority of the people are struggling.”
Companies registry boost via April platform launch
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business
Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
THE Attorney General
yesterday said the companies registry will launch an integrated platform in April that will allow financial and corporate services providers to manage their businesses more efficiently.
Ryan Pinder KC said the Corporate Administrative Registry Services (CARS) portal will unveil an integrated corporate services platform, CARS Business, to better allow financial services industry players to manage their services and activities.
Speaking at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Bahamas conference, he said the online companies registry portal will launch the new feature in April and firms that are participating in a pilot run of the platform “love it”.
“In April, we’re going to launch a new feature related to CARS, and it’s voluntary, but it’s called CARS Business. It will be a subscription offering to industry, but it will be kind of an integrated corporate services platform that will allow you to monitor all
your clients, monitor all your employees who are providing services,” said Mr Pinder.
“We’ll do a few training sessions and demo sessions in the beginning of April for that launch in April. We have a couple companies who are piloting it now, and they love it.” Mr Pinder said CARS Business will be for each company’s personal monitoring and record keeping, and will have a bulk upload feature that will allow firms to upload annual registration applications for multiple companies at once.
“This is your portal; this isn’t a Registrar General’s portal. This is your portal to help you manage your current customer system that is seamlessly integrated into CARS,” said Mr Pinder.
“We’ll have a bulk upload feature. So if you have 150 companies, and you’re doing a bulk upload of the annual registrations, you’ll be able - instead of doing each company - to do one single bulk upload of all 150 and that will seamlessly go into CARS, follow the registration statements one time, deduct it from your escrow, and now you’ve done an annual registration
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that ELVIUS OMILUS of #7 Cowpen Road, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that Dundas Town applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
As for the trade and tariff uncertainty impacting the tourism industry, Ms Small added: “I could see it happening. And if they think now the struggle is real, if the vendors think now the struggle is real, wait until hell hits the fan. Wait until that really manifests itself.
“I am so overwhelmed I can’t even think that far. Right as we speak vendors are hurting in this market. So you can imagine, once the tariffs… I’m afraid. I’m afraid... I’m literally afraid to see if we’re struggling now and if the countries decide to have this tariff war and shopping decreases, boy we are going to be in plenty trouble.”
A charter company owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US economy dictates how
The Bahamas performs. Concerned about a reduction in tourists, they do not believe The Bahamas will see an uptick in visitors from other countries to compensate for a drop-off in US visitors.
“Those countries are further away,” they said. “Just [in] geographical position, we are [on] the doorstep of the US. We cannot take that away, that we are on the doorstep of the US, and therefore most of our tourists come from the US. That’s just a fact. That isn’t going to change.
“Even if you get an increase in the amount of tourists from those other countries, I don’t think it could make up to the numbers… I would say 80 percent of our tourists come from North America.
AG REVEALS IP REGULATIONS SET FOR ROLL-OUT NEXT WEEK
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
THE Attorney General yesterday said regulations to accompany and enforce The Bahamas’ intellectual property rights reforms will be issued next week.
Speaking at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Bahamas conference, Ryan Pinder KC said a digital intellectual property (IP) registry will be formed once the regulations have been published.
“We’re launching our new intellectual property registry for all those who have IP concerns. That’ll be a separate registry. We put the legislation in force, the regulations probably will be issued next week on the new legislation, and we’ll have a digitised platform,” said Mr Pinder. He explained there will now be three registrars to deal separately with records, companies and intellectual property.
The registrar of records will hold personal information and deeds, such as birth and marriage records, which all also be available digitally through the
civil registry operational system (CROS), which will be launched for trials next month.
“We will now have three registrars, one for records, one for companies, one for intellectual property. With the registrar of records, that’s deeds and documents, births, deaths, marriages. And we have developed a platform called CROS, civil registry operational system, and that will be a digital platform for your deeds and documents for your marriages, records your death, records your birth,” said Mr Pinder.
“We’ve now got a movable asset collateral registry, so inventory and machinery, whatever you have is a movable asset, now we have a security interest put on and have a loan. We’ll be launching CROS on a deeds and documents trial basis next month. It’s very good”
Mr Pinder said the digitisation of public records is a “fantastic evolution” to the Registrar Genreral’s Department, and added that once the platform is fully launched users will be able to submit affidavits and property transactions digitally.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that SAMERA RHAJAE LEXUS CLERVEAU of Marsh Harbour, Abaco, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that BRONDY DORJEAN of Golden Gates, Sisal Road West, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that OXANNA RENE of Dundas Town Abaco, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 14th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
And out of that 80 percent, I would say probably 80 percent of that 80 percent is from the US in general.”
Arool Major, owner of 700 Islands Adventure Tours, said he is not worried as The Bahamas may not only see an “uptick” in American tourists but foreign investments as well, with a number of visitors expressing their interest in becoming second home owners in the country.
“I would say we might see a slight dip,” Mr Major said. “We might see a slight uptick because people might not want to live in America any more, because a lot of people even though Trump won, in a lot of… states, a lot of people are saying they don’t want to live in the United States any more. I
actually had tourists on my tour saying they’re looking to buy property down in The Bahamas because the prices are getting crazy. So, I guess it’s how you look at it. I’m looking at it for the positive.
“When I’m on tour with them, I let them know the only thing you really have to pay is VAT, and it’s nothing like in America where they got to pay income tax and all of that. I know Americans and foreigners, they can’t own certain businesses over here, but it’s still an opportunity for them to go over here… If they stay in the United States this can be a home away from home for them.”
“When you go and, for example, you do a property transaction, or you have an affidavit you want to file, or you have a mortgage you need to record, you can do all of that now digitally on a digital platform without having to go into the Registrar General’s Department and fill out the information,” said Mr Pinder.
“Just upload the document, submit it into the platform. We verify the information as accurate, and just like that, boom,
you pay your fee. We now have a registered document digitally, electronically, instantaneously. That’s launching as part of the record side as well, hopefully on a limited basis in April”
Mr Pinder said that while there are some issues uploading all historical data, as it must be correct, once the platform is launched it will populate new data and streamline the record-keeping process.
PUBLIC NOTICE
INTENT TO CHANGE NAME BY DEED POLL
The Public is hereby advised that I, DAVID JAMINE FOWLER, of Robinson Road, Nassau, Bahamas, intend to change my name to ALEXANDER JAMES NEELY JR If there are any objections to this change of name by Deed Poll, you may write such objections to the Chief Passport Offcer, P.O.Box N-742, Nassau, The Bahamas no later than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that NER DO C NE of #13 St Alban’s Drive, Nassau, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that NADEGE DALMOND of Rolle Avenue off Montrose Avenue, New Providence, The Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that SAMENTHYHNA ARIST of Freeport, Grand Bahama applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 7th day of March, 2025 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
RYAN PINDER KC
‘Caught in the crossfire’: GB Power hit by rate rise delay
These outages prompted the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), in its capacity as GB Power’s regulator, to defer consideration of the latter’s three-year tariff adjustment proposal until the outages and blackouts were eliminated. Emera, the Canadian utility giant which owns 100 percent of GB Power, in its recent 2024 financial results said review of the application “is expected to be completed in 2025”.
Mr McGregor declined to go into detail on this, other than to confirm that “discussions are happening behind the scenes” over the rate proposal. He added that the ongoing court battles over who has supervisory authority for the electricity sector in Freeport - the GBPA or Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) - need to be resolved to give GB Power regulatory certainty and predictability.
Noting that these qualities are vital to investor confidence worldwide, Mr McGregor acknowledged that this was “not what we have currently” amid the ongoing regulatory battle that has spawned not one but two separate court cases. Besides GB Power’s action, which was launched in 2016 challenging URCA’s authority to regulate it, the latter last year initiated its own legal challenge against the GBPA over the same issue.
Emera, in its 2024 fourth quarter results filing, asserted that it
did not foresee “a material impact” from the legal fight over regulatory authority in Freeport.
“With $340m of assets and approximately 19,500 customers, GB Power owns 98 MW of oil-fired generation, approximately 90 kilometres of transmission facilities and 994 kilometres of distribution facilities. GB Power’s approved regulatory return on rate base is 8.52 per cent,” Emera said. “On June 1, 2024, the Electricity Act 2024 took effect. The legislation purports to remove the jurisdiction of the GBPA over GB Power, and to have URCA, another Bahamian regulator, regulate GB Power. The GBPA has opposed the legislated removal of its regulatory authority over GB Power, citing conflict with the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, the 1955 agreement with the Bahamian government that provided for the development and administration of the Freeport area.
“Management expects the matter of regulatory jurisdiction over GB Power to be the subject of legal proceedings, however, does not foresee that the legislation or the outcome of such proceedings will have a material impact to Emera.”
As for GB Power’s proposed three-year tariff adjustment, which would cover the period through to end-2027, Emera added: “On August 1, 2024, as required by the GBPA operating protocol and regulatory framework agreement, GB Power filed a rate plan proposal.
Review of the rate application is expected to be completed in 2025.”
Mr McGregor, yesterday confirming that approval of the new tariff structure is “critical and fundamental to our operations”, declined to comment in detail on whether the GBPA has restarted its review or when it will be completed now that GB Power has addressed electricity supply reliability on Grand Bahama.
“There are discussions going on behind the scenes,” he said. “We are hopeful for an outcome this year but we have no specific information at this point. Discussions are happening behind the scenes, and we’re hopeful that it gets resolved this year. There are a couple of court actions taking place that we need to let play out. We’re caught in the crossfire.”
Asked about the impact on GB Power’s finances and operations from failing to obtain the required approvals to-date, Mr McGregor told Tribune Business: “It’s really reduced our cash position, so we’re having to be very careful with cash. It’s reduced our expenditure. It’s a very real impact.
“We really needed that rate adjustment. It was always not for no reason, the adjustment, because costs have adjusted and customers have not materialised as forecast. We’re not earning what we should be. It’s really a cash issue.”
The new tariff structure was designed to generate sufficient cash flow to finance some $53m in capital improvements GB
Power planned for its network infrastructure over the three years to end-2027. “That’s been delayed,” Mr McGregor said of the proposed investments. “It has delayed implementation of that.
“We are still continuing the work on generation reliability, which has improved a lot over the last three to four months. We’re back to where we should be, absolutely. We’ve managed to continue that work.
“The other work, especially solar and battery storage infrastructure, that’s really been put on pause until the rate situation is resolved. We’ve not cut back on safety and reliability, but enhancement and the renewable transition is on hold until this gets resolved.”
Given the uncertainty over the identity of its regulator, and the supervisory regime it will face moving forward, Mr McGregor said the ongoing court battles are impacting confidence for GB Power, its owner and even other investors.
“The other thing that investors in many countries, not just The Bahamas, want is some regulatory and political uncertainty,” he added, “and that’s not what we have currently. This uncertainty is not good for investor confidence.”
Of the $53m in planned capital investments, some 55 percent of this sum will be allocated to grid modernisation - substations; protection and control; and battery storage. Of the remainder, one-quarter or 25 percent is planned to go
on what you have to do to comply with AML requirements and AML standards.
We have a draft of the FTRA Amendment Bill already prepared. We’ll certainly release that out for public consultation.”
Mr Pinder advised trust companies to “bolster” their compliance and warned that changes will
be made quickly, as they must be implemented and monitored for a year before on-site inspections in October 2026.
“This will move pretty quickly, because remember, we’re going for mutual evaluations, and we not only have to prove the laws are compliant, but they’re implemented and they’re monitored, which means
we need to have some onsite inspections before 2026. We need to know that everybody’s complying. These amendments, will move pretty quickly. My goal is to have them debated and passed in Parliament before the Budget,” said Mr Pinder. “Everybody can have the summer time when things are a little slower to look at what the obligations are to
start collecting the due diligence you need to collect, start understanding what you have to do on a nominee shareholder basis, and so we would have at least one year of effective compliance that can be tested by the inspectors.”
Mr Pinder said he “absolutely” does not support implementing a trust register and, if the legislative
on energy Infrastructure such as generation, engine overhauls, capital spares and upgrades, with the final 20 percent “sustaining capital” for facilities, IT and customer service enhancements.
GB Power has consistently asserted that 75 percent of its customers will experience either no increase or a decrease in overall electricity costs under the proposed new three-year tariff structure despite the request for a 6.32 percent base rate rise. The base rate rise is expected to be offset, or cancelled out, by a forecast reduction in the fuel charge component of consumers’ bills.
Under the original plan, residential consumers who use less than 600 KWh (kilowatt hours) per month would see a modest $1 reduction in their all-in total monthly electricity costs in 2025 when compared to current rates.
However, residential consumers using above 600 KWh per month were forecast to see a slight increase in their monthly bill of $1. And commercial customers using from 1,000 KWh per month to 50,000 KWh per month would have seen their all-in cost jump by between $3.10 to $67.97, or 0.79 percent to 0.37 percent, based on GB Power’s submission.
While estimates for commercial customers will vary based on their specific demand, GB Power’s estimates showed all classes of customers - from the smallest residential user to the
changes are made to the FTRA and implemented for a year, The Bahamas may be able to demonstrate there is sufficient oversight under the legislation.
“I absolutely do not support the trust register, whether it be public or private. I don’t think it’s appropriate, and as long as I’m in this chair, that’s not going to happen, and so we won’t have a trust register. Which means that we have to be serious about the regulatory function of it and the FTRA, and moving quickly and ensuring that we have data to test,” said Mr Pinder.
“I think if we do that, and we’re serious about it, and the industry understands what we have to accomplish,
large industrials - will see their total monthly energy costs rise in 2026. The extent of the increase will range from $2.64 to $803.91 (largest users), representing a rise of between 4.05 percent and 4.52 percent in percentage terms.
“In outlining the all-in rate impact on various customer classes, GB Power’s filing states that residential, general service large, and large industrial customers’ all-in costs will remain relatively unchanged in the first year, with less than a 1 percent change from current all-in costs,” the GBPA added.
“While there will be varying adjustments each year, the all-in cost is projected to reach its maximum increase of 4 percent in 2026 before levelling off with a 2.5 percent change in 2027 from current rates.” GB Power said it is targeting an increase in average base rate revenue from $269.9m in 2023 to $277.5m over the next three-year period - a rise of $7.6m.
It is forecasting that a 10 percent increase in electricity sales over the three-year period through end-2027, calculated in mega watt (mWh) hours, will help it to achieve this base rate increase. Sales are forecast to jump from 286,431 mWh in 2023 to 315,177 mWh driven by increases in all GB Power’s major customer categories - residential, commercial and general service/industrial.
even though it may be a shift in how you operate, I think we can avoid the position of having to address a trust register. If we’re lackadaisical about it and we’re not serious and we’re combative, and all of that, then I think we kind of get pushed into a corner a little bit, and we have to be very careful with that.
“We’re known for excellence. We’re known for 40/40. We’re known for doing what we need to do to comply, and we’re known for having a co-operative relationship between the Government, the industry and the regulators, which I think all helps in what we’re trying to do.”
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 138 (8) of the International Business Companies Act (as amended), NOTICE is hereby given that Altamaha Investments Ltd. has been dissolved and has been struck from the Register with effect from 24th December, 2024.
Juliana Thompson and Monique Carey LIQUIDATORS
c/o EFG Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd
Goodman’s Bay Corporate Centre, 3rd Floor West Bay Street and Sea View Drive P.O. Box CB 10956 Nassau, Bahamas
PUBLIC NOTICE
REAL ESTATE BOARD
LICENSED BROKERS/SALESMEN/APPRAISERS/DEVELOPERS
The Public is notifed for general information that the following persons have renewed their licenses as of January 1st,
These licenses are valid until December 31, 2025. The public is advised that the list of names below include registered, licensed members of The Bahamas Real Estate Association. The public is further advised that only licensed real estate salesmen and brokers are legally permitted to conduct the business of real estate in The Bahamas.
US: BAHAMAS ‘LOW RISK’ FOR FRAUD, CORRUPT ACTORS
FROM PAGE B1
and prosecutorial abilities, Bahamian law enforcement and prosecutors are hesitant to investigate and prosecute complex financial crimes and seize real property and assets derived from illicit activities.
“When authorities pursue cases, an accepted ‘culture of adjournments’ delays adjudications for years. The Bahamas lacks strong interinstitutional co-ordination and political will to successfully adjudicate complex financial crimes.”
The picture presented by the US State Department report contrasts sharply with The Bahamas’ own financial crime risk assessment, released in December 2024, which said the dangers were mitigated by robust anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer (KYC) and other due diligence defences implemented by an international bank and trust company sector holding $121.6bn in assets at yearend 2022.
“The quality of the antimoney laundering and counter terror financing controls in the international banking sector has been assessed as strong,” the Bahamas’ own report asserted.
“The legislative framework is comprehensive, and monitoring of operations is ongoing via a risk-based anti money laundering supervisory framework which requires appropriate customer due diligence, mandatory ongoing training, effective compliance systems and suspicious transactions monitoring and reporting by financial institutions.”
Although the industry is exposed to what is deemed to be “medium to high” money laundering and other financial crime risks due to the nature of the business it undertakes, such as international transactions, cross-border transfer flows and non-resident customers, “where there may be financial opportunities for financial crime to launder proceeds of crimes – such as fraud or corruption”, the actual threat has been minimised.
The US State Department, though, has taken a different view. “In 2024, authorities imposed almost $220m in administrative penalties, which remain under negotiation for settlement. Law enforcement confiscated over $2m in assets and restrained $1m in suspected illegal cash proceeds,” its report said.
“The Royal Bahamian Police Force Financial Crimes Investigative Branch reported a 20 percent increase in the number of cases/prosecutions in 2024 with 34 individuals charged and six convicted. The Government approved a national cyber security strategy in 2024. The Bahamas began drafting new cyber crime legislation. However, currently the only Bahamian law that addresses cyber crime directly is the Computer Misuse Act 2003....
“The Bahamas suffers from domestic fraud schemes and transnational criminal activities.
A limited number of asset seizures and financial prosecutions have resulted in a vulnerable banking system, gaming industry, virtual currencies and luxury real estate market.” It is unclear what the $220m in penalties relate to, as a fine of such scale was levied by the Securities Commission against the FTX crypto exchange.
Elsewhere, the US asserted that Bahamian prosecutors “do not adequately use the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize and forfeit assets”, while identifying both the real estate
and construction sectors - said to have contributed $2bn and $634m, respectively, to economic output as “susceptible to money laundering”. No examples, though, were provided to back-up and of these assertions.
Combining The Bahamas’ casino and web shop gaming industry into one, the US State Department report said that, together, they generated almost $415m in gross receipts from January to September 2024 along with $49m in taxes to the Government.
And the “90 percent effectiveness rate for client screening, and a 93 percent rate for transaction screening” achieved by the Central Bank’s licensees won praise from the US State Department which said the results showed Bahamian financial institutions can accurately identify persons subject to international sanctions.
The report added that there had been “renewed interest from the Government of The Bahamas in advancing anti-corruption initiatives” following last November’s charges brought against the Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) top police officer and other law enforcement agents in New York’s southern district over alleged drug-related corruption.
It did not seem to give The Bahamas credit for passing the Independent Commission of Investigations Bill and Protected Disclosures Bill, both of which are designed to protect whistleblowers and strengthen anti-corruption defences. It is likely the report was written before both Bills reached Parliament.
“While the Government has generally established anti-corruption laws effectively, laws to combat corruption by public officials have been inconsistently applied,” the US State Department report said. “The Government has stalled full implementation of anticorruption legislation that would accelerate efforts to enhance transparency and accountability.
“The November southern district of New York indictment renewed interest from the Government of The Bahamas in advancing anti-corruption initiatives. The Bahamas would benefit from a more robust enforcement of rules to prevent conflicts of interest related to public procurement activities.
“There are allegations that government contracts have been directed to political supporters, isolated reports of officials accepting small-scale ‘bribes of convenience’, and favourable treatment given to wealthy or politically connected individuals. The bribery of a government official is a criminal act carrying a fine of up to $10,000, a prison term of up to four years, or both.”
The report added: “Bahamian authorities prefer civil recovery of transnational criminal organisation illicit assets to disrupt criminal enterprises. Its lower evidentiary threshold leads to more successful outcomes, and the seizures disrupt the transnational criminal organisation networks....
“The United States and The Bahamas have a strong partnership in counter-narcotics enforcement.... Success will require more dedicated Bahamian drug enforcement resources, better Bahamian operational co-ordination between its police and Defence forces, increased focus on countering corruption, and stronger prosecutions leading to convictions.”
Summit at peak strength despite ‘negative’ outlook
FROM PAGE B1
out claims worth $225m as a result of Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
Much of that will have been financed by external reinsurers, as Bahamian carriers have to buy huge amounts of coverage from these companies due to the fact their own relatively thin capital bases cannot underwrite all the multibillion dollar risks present in this nation.
“The reinsurance market remains a very difficult place to do business, with very little relief on reinsurance rates foreseen in the immediate future. It is difficult to say how long this period of restricted capacity will remain, as unprecedented global weather events continue to be a concern to the global reinsurance market,” Mr Ingraham warned.
“For 2025, the Board of Summit is optimistic about the company’s prospects and hopes that the worst of the reinsurance difficulties are behind us. We will focus on growth in non-catastrophe classes, which are not as impacted by the shortage of reinsurance capacity.”
AM Best, in reaffirming Summit’s A- (Excellent) financial strength rating and long-term issuer credit eating of ‘a-’ (Excellent), assigned a ‘negative’ outlook to both - a sign that a possible change or downgrade may occur within the next year. It voiced concern that the carrier’s profitability and operating performance has not returned to in line with historical norms due primarily to higher reinsurance costs.
“The ratings reflect Summit’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management,” the rating agency explained. “The negative outlooks reflect a downward trend for operating performance over the past several years with unprofitable underwriting and lower returns.
“Historically, Summit has been very profitable excluding years The Bahamas suffered a significant catastrophe event. Underwriting pressure post-Hurricane Dorian is reflective of the operating environment in The Bahamas, where reinsurance dependence is very high and primary market pricing, which has been soft historically, has shifted. Profitability metrics have lagged historical results.
“The overall reinsurance market hardening has presented limited opportunities for profitable growth in property lines. However, Summit’s management has taken initiatives toward improving operating performance through multiple actions including growth in lines of business not dependent on reinsurance, expense reduction initiatives and working to lower the cost for reinsurance coverage without impacting capital protection.
“Operating results have shown improvement through year-end 2024, but it remains uncertain if operating results will recover to levels that fully support a strong operating performance assessment in the near term,” AM Best continued.
“AM Best assesses Summit’s balance sheet strength at the strongest level, based on its strongest level of riskadjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), in addition to its moderate risk investment portfolio.
“The organisation has prioritised protecting capital over operating performance when pressured by rising reinsurance costs. Organic growth of surplus has been achieved through favourable earnings, offset by shareholder dividends. AM Best expects riskadjusted capitalisation to continue to support Summit’s strongest level balance sheet strength assessment,” the rating agency added.
“High geographic concentration and competitive pressures also are reflected in Summit’s limited business profile assessment. The company’s limited geographic reach, operating solely in The Bahamas, exposes it to high economic and financial system risk, as well as The Bahamas’ moderate political risk.”
Mr Ingraham, in reply, told Tribune Business:
“Summit’s Board of Directors is pleased that A.M. Best has decided to continue with our ‘A-’ rating, designating us with a very strong balance sheet. This rating represents the company’s commitment to ensuring that we continue to be a strong insurance partner, providing peace of mind to our clients.
“Since the catastrophic Hurricane Dorian in 2019, for which the company paid claims of $225m, we have carefully managed the headwinds of a shrinking reinsurance market and increasing reinsurance pricing, while still being able to meet our clients’ needs.”
Companies registry boost via April platform launch
FROM PAGE B3
for 150 companies in five minutes. This is a tremendous advantage, especially for large registered agents.”
Mr Pinder said CARS Business will also allow cross-border entities to have more “synergy” with offices in other jurisdictions.
He explained that although registrations must be filed locally, as it is a regulated function in The Bahamas, the CARS Business portal can be accessed by staff in another jurisdiction to enter the information relevant to a filing. The information can then be reviewed locally and processed through the CARS portal.
“What we are doing as a function of CARS Business
is we will let your head office now do all of the prep work and all of the background work; not the filings, but they’ll be able to access because this is your portal. This isn’t the Registrar General’s portal; this is your portal,” said Mr Pinder.
“You’ll be able to access that from head office or another jurisdiction and fill out the information, for example, on registered directors. Once you get instructions from head office, then you can say let me go and review and process the file. So it brings a little bit more synergies between your head office or your other jurisdictional offices and what you’re doing in The Bahamas.”
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VAT food cut runs ‘counter’ to farm policy
FROM PAGE B1
she told this newspaper: “This needs to be addressed immediately. It puts the farmers at a disadvantage, at a serious disadvantage, with the disparity between VAT on imported raw foods and on not just what farmers are producing but the stuff they have to buy, bring in and use.
“It puts them at a serious disadvantage. The Government is going to reduce the VAT on certain food items coming in from April 1, but they have yet to give the farmers any VAT relief on raw materials they bring in or fertilizer or tools they need to be able to grow crops and rear livestock.
“The farmer will be at a deficit, having to pay 10 percent VAT upfront and consumers paying 5 percent. The farmers are at a deficit. They [the Government] haven’t thought this thing through properly for the farmers. They need to be able to assist the farmers by reducing VAT on what they import to grow and produce. We’ll have local products that are more expensive than the products that come in with 5 percent VAT on them.”
Ms Shepherd said her pleas to the Government and its agriculture agencies have thus far “fallen on deaf ears”, and she has also failed to gain any movement with suggestions that Customs duties on agricultural inputs also be cut to compensate for VAT.
“It’s unbalanced and working against the broad agricultural sector,” she argued of the present policy position. “It is counter-acting what they are talking. They’re saying one thing for agriculture and then doing something else.
“One one hand they say they’re creating an industry; that industry is already in existence. Now they’re saying they are going to do this, and maintain the imports which they’re trying to diminish and deplete, and telling farmers they are stuck with 10 percent VAT.
“It’s like we fight uphill with the Government whenever it comes to agriculture. Agriculture is not as important as they’re making it out to be... The minister says they’re doing all this for agriculture, but on the other hand they’re putting the last nail in the coffin for the farmer,” Ms Shepherd told Tribune Business
“It defeats the purpose for the farmers to expand the industry, to grow more, because it’s costing them more to bring in new product compared to imports.” Ms Shepherd, in her letter to the Prime Minister, warned that the 5 percent VAT rate for imported foods without corresponding tax relief for farmers “poses a significant threat to the viability and sustainability of the local agriculture sector”.
She added: “The Bahamian farming community has made considerable
strides in contributing to national food security and promoting the ‘Buy Local’ initiative. However, the disparity in VAT treatment between agricultural imports and exports will severely undermine these efforts.
“Currently, agricultural products and seeds imported by local farmers are subjected to a 10 percent VAT rate at the border, whereas the final produce sold locally [will soon be] subject to only 5 percent VAT. This mismatch places an undue financial strain on our farmers...
“We are respectfully seeking clarity on the Government’s strategic considerations regarding the agriculture trade and how this VAT restructuring aligns with national objectives of reducing the country’s food import bill and promoting local food production,” Ms Shepherd continued.
“The higher VAT on critical imports such as seeds, fertilizers and equipment creates a disparity that hinders our ability to compete with imported goods on pricing and quality. Moreover, this imbalance could potentially discourage further investments in agriculture, an industry that is vital to our economy and food independence.”
Apart from impacting the ability of Bahamian farmers to compete on price with rival imports, Ms Shepherd said current policy “contradicts national goals of food security and reducing our dependency on imported food”.
Calling for the reduction or elimination of border VAT on seeds, fertilizers, equipment and other agricultural inputs, so as to lower production costs for Bahamian farmers, she called for the Government to promote greater awareness of local produce and implement industryfriendly policies.
“Supporting the ‘Buy Local’ initiative through government procurement contracts, tax incentives for businesses purchasing from Bahamian farmers, and setting quotas for local produce in food stores and hospitality establishments would provide tangible benefits to the agriculture sector,” Ms Shepherd told the Prime Minister.
“Initiatives to educate consumers on the benefits of buying locally grown produce would further reinforce the ‘Buy Local’ message, boosting demand for Bahamian agricultural products.
“We believe that with thoughtful policy adjustments and collaborative dialogue, the Government can create a balanced approach that fosters a thriving agriculture sector while achieving its fiscal objectives. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further and contribute to a policy framework that benefits both Bahamian farmers and the nation as a whole.”
PUTIN AGREES IN PRINCIPLE WITH PROPOSAL FOR UKRAINE CEASEFIRE AND SAYS MORE DISCUSSIONS ARE NEEDED
By The Associated Press
RUSSIAN President
Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasized that the terms are yet to be worked out and added that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace.
"The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin told a news conference in Moscow. "But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him."
President Donald Trump said there have been "good signals" coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putin's statement. He reiterated that he's ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war.
Putin "put out a very promising statement, but it wasn't complete," Trump said Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "Now we're going to see whether or not Russia's there. And if they're not, it'll be a very disappointing moment for the world."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin is "essentially preparing to reject" the ceasefire. Putin "is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation. "That is why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will come of it — or at least, it will be delayed as long as possible."
The Russian president, he added, "often acts this way. He doesn't say 'no' outright but ensures that everything drags on and that normal solutions become impossible."
Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, noted the need to control possible breaches of the truce and signaled that Russia would seek guarantees that Ukraine would not use the break in hostilities to rearm and continue mobilization.
"We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis," Putin said.
The Russian leader made the remarks just hours after the arrival of Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for talks on the ceasefire, which Ukraine has accepted. A Kremlin adviser said Putin planned to meet with Witkoff later Thursday.
The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russia's Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold.
Russia questions details of truce offer Putin said it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire and that Ukraine is interested because of the battlefield situation, particularly in Kursk.
Referring to the Ukrainian troops in Kursk, he questioned what will happen to them if the ceasefire takes hold: "Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender?"
Putin thanked Trump "for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine."
He also thanked the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa for their "noble mission to end the fighting," a statement that suggested those countries could be involved in a ceasefire deal. Russia has said it will not accept peacekeepers
from any NATO members to monitor a prospective truce.
Putin's seemingly friendly tone toward the White House reflected the astonishing shift in U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine since Trump returned to office in January.
Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the United States was Ukraine's staunchest and most powerful ally and a force for isolating the Kremlin. But Trump's election threw that policy into reverse.
Trump briefly cut off critical military aid and intelligence sharing in an apparent effort to push Kyiv to enter talks to end the war, and Zelenskyy had a testy meeting at the White House on Feb. 28 in which Trump questioned whether Ukraine wanted to halt the war.
The Trump administration has also repeatedly embraced Kremlin positions on the conflict, including indicating that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO are unlikely to be realized and that it probably will not get back the land that Russia's army occupies, which amounts to nearly 20% of the country.
The Russian Defense Ministry's claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operations hub in Kursk, came hours after Putin visited his commanders in the Kursk region. The claim could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.
Administration repeats threat of new sanctions
As Trump seeks a diplomatic end to the war, he has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it does not engage with peace efforts.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday that Trump is "willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides," including sanctions that reach the highest scale on Russia.
The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures.
By signaling its openness to a ceasefire at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma — whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington.
The Ukrainian army's foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from the renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine's daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin.
Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly grim news from the front line, as well as to draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and to gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washingtonbased think tank, assessed late Wednesday that Russian forces were in control of Sudzha, a town close to the border that previously was home to about 5,000 people.
Ukraine's top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian aircraft conducted so many strikes on Kursk that Sudzha had been almost completely destroyed. He did not comment on whether Ukraine still controlled the settlement but said his country was "maneuvering (troops) to more advantageous lines."
A 10% DROP FOR STOCKS IS SCARY, BUT ISN’T THAT RARE
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
THE U.S. stock market has just dropped 10% from its high set last month, hurt by worries about the economy and a global trade war.
T he fall for the S&P 500 is steep enough that Wall Street has a name for it: a "correction." Such drops have happened regularly for more than a century, and market pros often view them as potentially healthy wipeouts of overdone euphoria, which could send stock prices too high if unchecked.
But corrections are frightening in the moment, particularly for every new generation of investors that gets into the market at a time when it seems like stocks only go up.
The S&P 500 is coming off two straight years with gains of more than 20%. Such stellar gains left the market looking too expensive to critics, who pointed to how prices rose faster than corporate profits.
Culling too-high enthusiasm among day traders is one thing. The larger fear always accompanying a correction is that it could be a warning sign of a coming "bear market," which is what Wall Street calls a drop of at least 20%.
Here's a look at what history shows about past corrections, and what market watchers are expecting going forward. What's behind this correction?
The U.S. stock market initially jumped after President Donald Trump's election in November on hopes he'd bring lower taxes, less regulation for businesses and other policies that would drive corporate profits higher. All those gains have since disappeared, as Wall Street faces the potential downsides of Trump's White House for the economy.
The president has been making announcements on tariffs at a dizzying pace, first placing them on trading partners, then exempting some and then doing it all over again. The tariffs could hit every country that trades with the United States, which would raise prices for U.S. households and businesses when high inflation has already proven stubborn to fully subdue.
The fear is that tariffs could slow or even halt the solid growth the U.S. economy was showing when it ended 2024. Even if Trump ultimately goes forward with less painful tariffs, all the uncertainty around the will-he-or-won't-he rollout could prove damaging by freezing economic activity.
Such concerns have shown up in the latest readings on consumer confidence, as well as companies' forecasts for future profits.
Trump himself has acknowledged his plans could affect the U.S. economy's growth.
All the uncertainty is also making things more complicated for the Federal Reserve, which had been cutting interest rates after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Cutting rates further would help the economy, but it could also put upward pressure on inflation.
The brunt of this selloff has also hit stocks that critics were saying looked the most expensive after running wild through the frenzy around artificial intelligence. Nvidia, for example, has already dropped roughly 14% in 2025 so far after surging more than 800% through 2023 and 2024.
Most of the other big stocks in the "Magnificent
Seven" that have dominated the market recently have also been lagging the rest of the S&P 500. Those seven stocks alone had accounted for more than half the S&P 500's total return last year. How often do corrections occur?
Every couple years, on average. Even during the historic, nearly 11-yearlong bull run for U.S. stocks from March 2009 to February 2020, the S&P 500 stumbled to five corrections, according to CFRA. Worries about everything from interest rates to trade wars to a European debt crisis caused the pullbacks. The U.S. market's last correction was in 2023, when the S&P 500 dropped 10.3% from the end of July into October. At the time, high Treasury yields were undercutting stock prices as traders accepted a new normal where the Fed would keep rates high for a while. But stocks would quickly turn higher as optimism revived that cuts to rates were on the horizon. The last correction that did graduate into a bear market was in 2022. That's when the Fed first began cranking up interest rates to combat the worst inflation in generations. Worries rose that high rates would slow the economy enough to create a recession, one that ultimately never came.
Through the 2022 bear market, the S&P 500 fell 25.4% from Jan. 3 to Oct. 12.
What typically happens after a drop like this?
Looking only at corrections since 1946 that managed to right themselves before turning into a bear market, the S&P 500 has taken an average of 133 days to hit bottom and lost an average of nearly 14% along the way, according to CFRA. The index has taken an average of 113 days to recoup its losses. For declines that become bear markets, the damage is much worse. Going back to 1929, the average bear market has taken an average of nearly 19 months to hit bottom and caused a loss of 38.5% for the S&P 500, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. How bad can a bear market be?
On paper, an investor can lose most of their money. From late 1929 into the middle of 1932, the stock market fell a little more than 86%, for example. A bear market can also feel interminable: One lasted more than five years, from 1937 into 1942, where U.S. stocks lost 60%, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
In Japan, after the Nikkei 225 index set a record at the end of 1989, it sank and then took decades to fully recover. It wasn't until 2024 that it got back to that peak. The Japanese example is an outlier, though. In almost every case, investors would have made back all their losses from a downturn for U.S. stocks if they simply held on and didn't sell. That includes the 2000 dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 coronavirus collapse. What should we expect this time?
No one knows. Some investors on Wall Street say they expect Trump to pull back on some policies if they prove to be too damaging, while others say the uncertainty alone is creating enough pain.
The economy has given signals that it's still relatively solid at the moment, including last month's jobs report, but the outlook looks cloudier than usual given all the unknowns.
SHOWN is a display of French Germany and Spanish wines at a Pennsylvania Fine Wine & Good Spirits in Flourtown, Pa., Thursday, March 13, 2025. Photo:Matt Rourke/AP
US WINE SHOPS AND IMPORTERS SAY TRUMP’S THREATENED 200% TARIFF ON EUROPEAN WINES WOULD KILL DEMAND
By DEE-ANN DURBIN and MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writers
THE United States is suddenly looking less bubbly for European wines.
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. Wine sellers and importers said a tariff of that size would essentially shut down the European wine business in the U.S.
"I don't think customers are prepared to pay two to three times more for their favorite wine or Champagne," Ronnie Sanders, the CEO of Vine Street Imports in Mt. Laurel Township, New Jersey, said.
Jeff Zacharia, president of fine wine retailer Zachys in Port Chester, New York, said 80% of the wine he sells is from Europe. Importers depend on European wines for a big part of their distribution system, he said, and there's not enough U.S. wine to make up for that.
"This is just going to have a major negative impact on the whole U.S. wine industry in all aspects of it, including U.S. wineries," he said.
Zacharia said there are so many unknowns right now he's stopped buying European wine until the picture becomes clearer.
"It's very hard to make preparations when as a business you don't have a clear path forward," he said. "Our preparations would be very different if it's 200% compared to 100% compared to 10%."
Wine and spirits from the 27-nation European Union made up 17% of the total consumed in the U.S. in 2023, according to IWSR, a global data and insight provider specializing in alcohol. Of that 17%, Italy accounted for 7% -- mostly from wine – and French wine, cognac and vodka accounted for 5%.
Overall, the U.S. imports much more alcohol than it exports. The $26.6 billion worth of foreign-produced alcoholic beverages that entered the country in 2022 accounted for 14% percent of all U.S. agricultural imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. exported $3.9 billion worth of beer, wine and distilled spirits that year.
Marten Lodewijks, president of IWSR U.S., said a 200% tariff would not be unprecedented but import duties of that size tend to be more targeted.
In 2020, China imposed tariffs as high as 218% on Australian wine, which caused exports to plunge by 90%, Lodewijks said. China lifted the tariffs last year, but by then Australia's wine industry had taken a big hit. Australia's wine trade to China was worth 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($710 million) annually before the tariffs were put in place.
Europe's tax on American whiskey, which was unveiled in response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs, is expected to go into effect on April 1. Trump responded Thursday in a social media post.
"If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the
U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES," Trump wrote. "This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S."
Trump was incorrect about the Champagne business. Champagne is a legally protected wine that can only come from France's Champagne region. But U.S. winemakers — including Trump Winery, a Virginia winery owned by the president's son Eric Trump — do make sparkling wine.
Reaction from across the Atlantic was swift Thursday.
"We must stop a dangerous escalation that is leading to a global trade war where the first victims will be U.S. citizens who will pay more for products, and with them, farmers,'' Ettore Prandini, president of Italy's Coldiretti agriculture lobby, said. Italian wine exports to the U.S. – led by prosecco -- have tripled in value over the last 20 years and reached 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) last year. In France, the U.S. market for wines and spirits is worth 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) annually.
Gabriel Picard, who heads the French Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits, said 200% tariffs would be "a hammer blow" for France's alcohol export industry, impacting hundreds of thousands of people.
"Not a single bottle will continue to be expedited if 200% tariffs are applied to our products. All exports to the United States will come to a total, total, halt," Picard said in an interview with The Associated Press. French transporter Grain de Sail, which uses sail power to ship wines and other goods across the Atlantic, said Thursday that some winemakers had already cancelled planned shipments of wine to the U.S. because they were anticipating tariffs even before Trump's announcement.
"It has more or less frozen exports. There's no point even hoping to send wine to the United States under these conditions," said Jacques Barreau, the firm's co-founder.
Some U.S. wine stores saw an opportunity Thursday. In Washington, the wine bar Cork announced a tariff sale, encouraging regulars to come stock up on their favorite wines while they're still affordable. Others wondered aloud whether Trump would really go through with a 200% tariff.
"It changes by the hour now, right?"
Mark O'Callaghan, the founder of Exit 9 Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park, New York, said. European wines make up around 35% of sales at his store, he said. Others seemed to want to stay out of the fray. Total Wine, which operates 279 stores in 29 U.S. states, didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, one of the country's largest alcohol distributors, also didn't respond to a message seeking comment.
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
WALL Street's sell-off hit a new low Thursday after President Donald Trump's escalating trade war dragged the S&P 500 more than 10% below its record, which was set just last month.
A 10% drop is a big enough deal that professional investors have a name for it — a "correction" — and the S&P 500's 1.4% slide on Thursday sent the index to its first since 2023. The losses came after Trump upped the stakes in his trade war by threatening huge taxes on European wines and alcohol. Not even a double-shot of good news on the U.S. economy could stop the bleeding.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 537 points, or 1.3% Thursday, and the Nasdaq composite fell 2%.
The dizzying, battering swings for stocks have been coming not just day to day but also hour to hour, and the Dow hurtled between a
since 2023 on Trump's trade war
slight gain and a drop of 689 points on Thursday. The turbulence is a result of uncertainty about how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. The president has said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes.
Trump's latest escalation came Thursday when he threatened 200% tariffs on Champagne and other European wines, unless the European Union rolls back a "nasty" tariff announced on U.S. whiskey. The European Union unveiled that move on Wednesday, in response to U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminum.
U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of all the uncertainty about which tariffs will stick from Trump's barrage of on
-again, off -again announce-
ments. That's raised fears about a pullback in spending that could sap energy from the economy. Some U.S. businesses say they've already begun to see a change in their customers' behavior because of the uncertainty.
A particularly feared scenario for the economy is one where its growth stagnates but inflation stays high because of tariffs. Few tools are available in Washington to fix what's called "stagflation." If the Federal Reserve were to cut interest rates to boost the economy, for example, that could also push inflation higher.
Good news came on both those economic fronts Thursday.
One report showed inflation at the wholesale level last month was milder than economists expected. It followed a similarly encouraging report from the prior day on inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling.
But "the question for markets is whether good news on the inflation front
can make itself heard above the noise of the ever-changing tariff story," said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.
A separate report, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It's the latest signal that the job market remains relatively solid overall. If that can continue, it could allow U.S. consumers to keep spending, and that's the main engine of the economy.
On Wall Steet, some stocks connected to the artificial-intelligence industry resumed their slide and weighed on stock indexes. Palantir Technologies, which offers an AI platform for customers, sank 4.8%. Super Micro Computer, which makes servers, lost 8%. Nvidia swung between gains and losses before finishing with a dip of 0.1%.
Such stocks have been under the most pressure in the U.S. stock market's
recent sell-off after critics said their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI. Other areas of the market that had also been riding big earlier momentum have seen their fortunes swing drastically. Elon Musk's Tesla fell 3% following a rare back-to-back gain, and it's down more than 40% so far in 2025.
American Eagle Outfitters dropped 4.1% after the retailer said "less robust demand and colder weather" have held back its performance recently. It forecasted a dip in revenue for the upcoming year, though it also delivered a stronger profit report for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Intel, which jumped 14.6% after naming former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its CEO. Tan, 65, will take over the daunting job next week, more than three months after Intel's previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger,
abruptly retired amid a deepening downturn at the once-dominant chipmaker. All told, the S&P 500 lost 77.78 points to 5,521.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 537.36 to 40,813.57, and the Nasdaq composite sank 345.44 to 17,303.01.
In the bond market, Treasury yields lost an early gain to sink lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.27% from 4.32%. The yield has been mostly dropping since January, when it was approaching 4.80%, as traders and economists have ratcheted back their expectations for U.S. economic growth.
While few are predicting a recession, particularly with the job market remaining relatively solid, recent reports have shown a souring of confidence among U.S. consumers and companies. In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia, but the moves were relatively modest.
