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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

By the end of this year, investment rules in the Bahamas could look a lot different. Delegates at the recent Opalesque Bahamas Roundtable noted that the government is looking at updates to the Commonwealth's Investment Funds Act.

Policymakers in the Bahamas started a review of the Investment Funds Act in 2016 with the goal of updating regulations to reflect the current state of private funds. Investment firms are likely to see clearer rules and more oversight throughout the fund structure from CEO to portfolio manager. If successful, the Commonwealth will be aligned with global investment regulation trends and will also be able to open the jurisdiction to a wider range of funds and strategies.

Ryan Pinder, Partner at Graham Thompson and former Minister of Financial Services and Trade said that there have already been several rounds of public comment from the investment industry and that policymakers have updated the draft legislation accordingly. If the current timeline remains in place, updates to the law could be passed in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

"Historically The Bahamas Investment Fund Regime has been very private wealth focused," Pinder explained. "We had extra fiduciary obligations on the fund administrator but didn't have a framework for fund managers or fund marketers. We are now reforming that and separating responsibilities."

The proposed legislation would remove fiduciary responsibilit......................

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