Local hedge funds attract U.S. concern

By VERNON CLEMENT JONES
Senior Business Reporter, the Nassau Gauardian


The U.S. government is poised to mount another attack on Bahamian offshore banking - this one focused on the burgeoning hedge fund industry and the risk-taking Americans sending taxable income that way.

Really, it's not just this country in the sights of U.S. lawmakers working on legislation to limit use of those funds. They are taking aim at the global offshore sector, as a whole.

"I don't think this pressure is going to go away," said Jan Mezulanik, chairman of the Association of International Banks & Trusts, in Nassau. "It's a question of how we navigate it."

That pressure is coming from the U.S. Congress, looking to answer voter concerns that too much of the income of wealthy Americans is now leaving the country. Moreover too much taxable

appears to be made outside the country in these aggressive hedge funds.

Unlike their mutual fund counterparts, they use risky strategies including selling short, leveraging, program trading, swapping, and arbitrage to grow investor returns.

Hedge funds are usually exempt from many of the rules and regulations governing other mutual funds, generally enabling them grow profits faster and, as is often the case, lose them more quickly as well.....


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http://www.thenassauguardian.com/business/308019963762665.php

Yes, 'Guardian' is misspelt in the title by-line by the paper! LOL! :D

Yes, 'Guardian' is misspelt in the title by-line by the paper! LOL! :D


Good Grief!

The staff at the Guardian website don't know how to use spellcheck eh? There is not a day goes by without one or more (lots of times, many more) spelling errors and typographical mistakes.

Sucks teeth

They just wont stop, and Hubert Ingraham wont stand his ground for that industry, because he is either a U.S. puppet, or a coward.

Plainly put.

I don't think it has anything to do with being a puppet or a coward. It has to do with the US' economy heading for the toilet. All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that. It has to do with China holding the world by its scrotum. All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that. Now if he became God and could change the world - then something might be done. But expecting Hubert Ingraham to ward off the economical apocalypse that the US is possibly headed for is like expecting him to raise the dead.

But I keep saying, Bahamians need to pay attention to what's happening outside the Bahamas because it has an extreme impact on what happens inside the Bahamas. By the time something happens, its too late to fix it. And they take their frustrations out arbitrarily without any insight on what the real problem is.

I don't think it has anything to do with being a puppet or a coward. It has to do with the US' economy heading for the toilet. All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that. It has to do with China holding the world by its scrotum. All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that. Now if he became God and could change the world - then something might be done. But expecting Hubert Ingraham to ward off the economical apocalypse that the US is possibly headed for is like expecting him to raise the dead.
But I keep saying, Bahamians need to pay attention to what's happening outside the Bahamas because it has an extreme impact on what happens inside the Bahamas. By the time something happens, its too late to fix it. And they take their frustrations out arbitrarily without any insight on what the real problem is.


Basically, Yinna need ta learn Mandarin and Cantonese and try to get some of dem long dollars out da' pockets of them China investors to open ya own Bahamian businesses so when da US dollar finishes ging belly up you have food to eat. :gi:

That's what I've been saying. I'm looking for some Rosetta Stone right now.

I'm still waiting to hear those people chime in about how now is the time to buy a home or that a home right now is a great investment. If those people are paying attention to what's going on around the world they would hopefully realize how foolish they sound.

So when are you going to start your Bahamian hedge fund so folks could invest and make $$??? :D

LOL. The Bahamas doesn't need a hedge fund, the Bahamas needs a central bank that's worth a d@mn. Take a lot of those stupid policies off the books and fire the entire staff - probably hire 36 baboons because they're probably more productive than I've seen from the central bank. Restore some autonomy to the bank to counterbalance this Laing person because its beginning to look like he's a little loony.

I don't think it has anything to do with being a puppet or a coward.
I see it otherwise, and I will explain...

It has to do with the US' economy heading for the toilet.
How do you figure this? the U.S. economy was pretty damn good, when they shoved the OECD and FATF down our tail pipes. With this, Carl Levin has been at us and many other jurisdictions for years now. Regardless of the economy. Sometimes they win, like how they won a few years back.

All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that.
You are confusing his ability to keep the integrity of this industry, over him bowing down to the will of a foreign entity.

It has to do with China holding the world by its scrotum. All the fighting Ingraham does will not change that.
This to me, has nothing to do with him standing his ground, like he should, and protecting the integrity of this jurisdiction the right way.

Now if he became God and could change the world - then something might be done.
Some people think he is, and can do no wrong. We know better.....people warned him of the smoke screen the first time, this was when it was "serious", he did not listen and it cost. He should stop thinking his is God.

But expecting Hubert Ingraham to ward off the economical apocalypse that the US is possibly headed for is like expecting him to raise the dead.
Nothing to do with protecting the integrity of our industry. Yet again, you bring in tangential, yet, useful facts, to side step the issue.

In short, what I am telling you, is that I do not care about any outside influence, until it "really" tries to hit. The Bahamian welfare, comes first and then, international policy makers; unless we are breaking an agreement.

We have to get out of this idea of low self worth, in regards to taking the initiative in letting the world know, we have got his over here.....plus, we are not a bad and blatantly corrupt country to that extent, to need a foreign country, telling us how to handle our economy. They don't live here, we do.


But I keep saying, Bahamians need to pay attention to what's happening outside the Bahamas because it has an extreme impact on what happens inside the Bahamas.
What does this, have to do with protecting our indutry from the standpoint of Ingraham being a puppet, and shortsighted on how to protect the industry. You are right however, Ingraham and the FNM needs to take a good look at the world around them. Unfortunately, they take the wrong cues.


By the time something happens, its too late to fix it. And they take their frustrations out arbitrarily without any insight on what the real problem is.

Half right. Sometimes you never know the true motive, and more often than not, these things are only important until they actually happen.

Nothing to do with protecting the integrity of our industry. Yet again, you bring in tangential, yet, useful facts, to side step the issue.

In short, what I am telling you, is that I do not care about any outside influence, until it "really" tries to hit. The Bahamian welfare, comes first and then, international policy makers; unless we are breaking an agreement.

We have to get out of this idea of low self worth, in regards to taking the initiative in letting the world know, we have got his over here.....plus, we are not a bad and blatantly corrupt country to that extent, to need a foreign country, telling us how to handle our economy. They don't live here, we do.


We are discussing offshore banking, are we not??

Lets agree on that first. If we can agree on that, then hopefully you'll see what you need to change about your response.

We are discussing offshore banking, are we not??
Lets agree on that first. If we can agree on that, then hopefully you'll see what you need to change about your response.


The U.S. economy, is what we should consider, if we want to make our industry profitable. Not a political witch hunt on offshore banking primarily; which has no merrit to many at most times. They are two separate things, regardless if they come in sequence, or, at the same time.

Before I forget, the american economy is not doing great. Pick up the journal or turn on bloomberg - I'm hearing words like apocalypse and armageddon. Jobless numbers are up. Home sales are down, way down!!! Retail is way down, way way way down!! Gold is up. Bonds are worthless. Which means mortgages are worthless. Which means whatever equity people had in their homes is worthless. The dollar is worth 50 cents. All of which can spell disaster if the Fed does something as dumb as the ECB did earlier today. I dunno what kinda of idiots are in europe but I pray it doesn't rub off on Bernanke and company.

The U.S. economy, is what we should consider, if we want to make our industry profitable. Not a political witch hunt on offshore banking primarily; which has no merrit to many at most times. They are two separate things, regardless if they come in sequence, or, at the same time.


You said we should protect the integrity of our industry. As if offshore banking is like fisheries. Offshore banking is like financial tourism. You can't simply disregard the tourists if you're trying to control the tourism industry. Those are your customers, if you do something they don't like - they go elsewhere. You call it bowing to the will of a foreign entity. That's absolutely ridiculous. Its not a foreign entity - its our customer base. They decide what americans can and cannot do with their money. If you want to disregard them in some idiotic attempt to appear patriotic and independent - then you may as well close your borders and kiss that industry good bye.