(written in 2002 when BISX wanted the Bahamas Government to bailout the Exchange)
I write in reference to the recent scandal involving Enron Company in the United States and the plight of many Companies trading on our Local Stock Exchange… BISX.
It appears to be some similarity in performance as it relates to some of our local companies trading on the Bahamas International Stock Exchange. It leaves me to wonder that notwithstanding Sept 11th, which is the biggest excuse used by many companies to report their poor performance and to rid themselves of staff without union interference. We as investors besides feeling betrayed are asking ourselves how could certain stocks purchased failed so soon and where is the exaggerated hype about the stock exchange gone to?
I have gone back to and reviewed all the prospectus of the respective companies, and I can honestly say that the Bahamian people got taken for a ride by some of those companies.
I do not understand in such a short period of time, many companies that Bahamians invested their hard earn savings have gone south. The Owners/Directors must realize that while they took their big payouts cheques from going public, those losses were incurred by many poor hard working Bahamians who had confidence in those Companies and respected them as smart, honest Bahamian “sometimes”, business people.
While the Owners/Directors and other “Fat Cats” skimmed the milk off the top they then watched the companies fall like the twin towers.
Unfortunately only the small investors who believed in those audited financial statements and hype promoted by BISX and the key brokers and dealers at that time suffered tremendous losses. While the motives of many of the Owners/Directors of these companies leaves many questions based on their actions. What kind of sign is this, it only further undermines the confidence in the market. This truly does not augur well for the sustain health in the market. Many hard working Bahamians feel just like the Enron and Worldcom employees and investors.
For Bahamian Brokers, Dealers, and Accounting Firms you know who you are, who aided and abetted these companies and their agenda, they have the public to answer to. The public should not just be left in the woods to wonder what “the hell” is going on. They must realize it is innocent people hard working money. The Brokers/Dealers were in the daily circulars everyday; buy Bahamian Companies on our local Stock Exchange was the hype. Batelco packages and other Bahamian owned pension funds were carrots hanging in their faces, so they sold the public “wolf tickets,” and where are they now? Rock point or under a rock, or between a rock and a hard place? Additionally BISX who HELD A PRIVATE OFFERING FOR SELECTIVE SOPHISTCATED INVESTORS, now has the audacity to come to the Local Bahamian Public for additional funding to support them in their loss, where is the Central Bank in all of this? They traveled all over the world, living in the best hotels, dined in the finest restaurants, and called it a promotional tour for the launching of BISX. When in my humble opinion, what they should have done instead of drinking champagne and travelling all over the world was this.
They should have simply studied the social spending and investing habits of Bahamians to see how BISX should have been configured, or simply ask the “small Bahamian investor” who invest for the long term and not as daily traders. They would have realized that BISX was going to be problematic from its inception because the social financial habits of Bahamians did not conform to their operational make up or short term financial objectives. This is when you have consultants who bring industry standards and do not understand the people of the country whom they are consulting. Someone or a company should be held accountable to the Bahamian people, they should handcuffed and led across Rawson Square like our everyday criminal. The Government should not be spending the Bahamian people money to bail out BISX but prosecute if need be the criminals behind this “white-collar” crime. We must not forget that BISX never came “Over the Hill” looking for investors, but they must realize that the Government of the Bahamas represents the majority of the people who reside “Over the Hill” and thats who’s money they want to spend to bail them out.
Anthony U Bostwick jr.
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