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Sterling Global Financial Launches Sterling Bank & Trust

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Nassau, Bahamas – May 26, 2016 – Bahamas-based Sterling Global Financial, an integrated banking and financial services provider with more than US$9 billion in assets under administration and operations in The Bahamas and Cayman Islands, today announced the launch of Sterling Bank & Trust.

News of the latest bank to bolster the Bahamas financial services portfolio was made at a press conference in Nassau by Sterling Global Financial Chairman David Kosoy and welcomed by two prominent members of The Bahamas Cabinet, Minister for Investments Khaalis Rolle and Minister for Financial Services Hope Strachan.

“As the world of financial services continues to evolve, Sterling Global continues to strategically grow our range of services from providing trust and investment vehicles, something the original company did more than 40 years ago, to today adding full private banking capability to meet the needs of a highly sophisticated client base,” said Mr. Kosoy.

Sterling’s clients number over 1,500. They invest through one or more of its several funds, including the award-winning New Providence Income Fund (NPIF). In 2015, NPIF reported an overall return of 13.8% and earned the highest secure fund ranking on the Sharpe Index two years running. Earlier this year NPIF was honoured as Best Fixed Income Mortgage Backed Fund (Since Inception) by AI Barclay Hedge Fund awards.

“The new world of financial services is a far more transparent space than it once was,” Mr. Kosoy said. “High net worth individuals or trusted institutional investors are no longer seeking the secrecy they once did. The rules have changed. They want to know their investment is secure and the companies acting on their behalf are doing so with efficiency, attention to detail, understand the market and are quick to respond. In other words, today’s success story is all about service – speed, savvy, security.”

Sterling Financial Global capitalizes carefully selected real estate projects with debt and equity lending. NPIF funding has supported development of more than $300 million in high-end residential and resort projects in The Bahamas, including luxury villas on Paradise Island, resorts in Abaco and Eleuthera and renovations of a multi-storey hotel opposite Nassau Harbour at Bay and Nassau Streets in downtown Nassau. It is also funding THIRTY/SIX, the first new luxury condo project on Paradise Island in a decade. With ground set to be broken soon, THIRTY/SIX is more than 50% sold.

Earlier this month, Sterling Global Financial unveiled its new website, http://www.sterlinggloballtd.com/, featuring a corporate section focused on information and news about the company’s services as well as background on the firm’s well-appointed board of directors, including Mr. Kosoy, President and COO Stephen Tiller, former president of BMO Nesbitt Burns Real Estate Inc. in Canada; and, Mike Harris, the former Premier of Ontario.

The site features a client portal where investors can manage banking, documents and fiduciary services securely online from any device.

“The new banking capability, like the new website, reflects the high ethical standards and client-centric services inherent to Sterling Global,” Kosoy said. “We constantly strive to create a comfort level for our investors, marrying the best of convenience with the highest level of security. As the world of financial services looks to the future, there will be more client-facing portals that enable presentation of information and financial strategies, including any potential risk, in a clear and relatable way online. Sterling is proud to be at the forefront of this type of information sharing and practical application for our clients who can now manage their financial affairs with greater ease. It’s this kind of service that has helped us grow to a full-fledged banking and financial services provider with a staff of nearly 40 professionals.”

Sterling Bank & Trust, immediately available for current clients of the boutique property-based investment firm, will operate out of the firm’s East Bay Street location across from Nassau Harbor.

 

CAPTION:

Sterling Global Financial, an integrated banking and financial services provider with more than US$9 billion in assets under administration and operations in The Bahamas and Cayman Islands launches Sterling Bank & Trust, the latest bank to bolster the Bahamas financial services portfolio. Pictured l-r: David Kosoy, Chairman Sterling Global Financial; Hon. Hope Strachan, Minister of Financial Services; Hon. Khaalis Rolle, Minister of Investments & Steve Tiller President & COO Sterling Global Financial. (Photo by Cay Focus Photography)

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Walker Confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas: A Partner in America’s Extended Family

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By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media

 

The United States and The Bahamas share more than proximity — they share a bond of history, trade, and culture that Washington’s newest diplomat calls “part of America’s extended community.”

Now, for the first time in 14 years, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau will again be led by a Senate-confirmed ambassador. Herschel Walker, the Heisman-winning football legend turned entrepreneur, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as America’s official envoy to The Bahamas.

Walker, who will oversee one of the Caribbean’s most strategically positioned U.S. missions, told senators during his confirmation hearing that The Bahamas will play a key role in upcoming U.S. 250th Independence celebrations. “The Bahamian people,” he said, “will be included in this milestone year, because our stories are intertwined — through family, trade, and friendship.”

While his nomination was unconventional, his priorities are anything but vague. Walker vowed to counter growing Chinese influence in the Caribbean, calling Beijing’s investments in Bahamian deep-water ports “a direct threat to U.S. national security.” He pledged to work closely with Bahamian authorities to ensure American interests remain the region’s cornerstone.

“There’s a rise in drug smuggling in The Bahamas, and this is a real danger to the United States,” Walker said, referring to the Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) partnership. He promised to strengthen intelligence sharing, joint patrols, and law enforcement coordination to disrupt trafficking routes that have grown increasingly sophisticated.

But Walker also emphasized opportunity over fear — signaling that his ambassadorship will not only focus on security, but on strengthening The Bahamas as a gateway for U.S. investment, trade, and tourism.

“I will advise the American business community of the vast investment opportunities that exist in The Bahamas,” he said. “And I will make sure the Bahamian government maintains an environment where U.S. companies can invest confidently — because America must prove it is still great as an investor.”

For a small island nation sitting less than 50 miles off the coast of Florida, this renewed diplomatic attention carries weight. Since 2011, the post of U.S. ambassador had remained vacant — a gap that many observers say weakened direct ties, delayed joint security initiatives, and allowed other powers to move in.

Walker’s confirmation — approved 51 to 47 — ends that silence. And with it comes the expectation that this former Olympian and business owner will translate his discipline, charisma, and resilience into diplomatic results.

Critics question his lack of foreign policy experience, but Walker counters with confidence: “Throughout my life, people have underestimated me. I’ve always proved them wrong — by outworking everyone.”

As he prepares to take up residence in Nassau, Walker says his mission is simple: rebuild trust, deepen cooperation, and remind both nations that their futures are tied not just by geography — but by shared purpose, mutual respect, and the enduring ties of community.

Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.

 

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PAY STANDOFF: Prime Minister Cancels Talks as Unions Warn of More Protests

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By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media

Monday, October 13, 2025 — Nassau, The Bahamas – What began as a calm holiday meeting has spiraled into a full-blown standoff between The Bahamas Government and two of the country’s most powerful public sector unions — the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Bahamas Public Services Union (BPSU) — after the Prime Minister abruptly cancelled follow-up talks set for Tuesday, blaming public comments made by union leaders.

The announcement of the cancelled meeting came late Monday, just hours after a tense sit-down at the Office of the Prime Minister, held on National Heroes Day, where both BUT President Belinda Wilson and BPSU President Kimsley Ferguson accused the government of dragging its feet on salary increases and retroactive pay owed to thousands of public officers.

Wilson, never one to mince words, said the Prime Minister’s “technical officers” — the very people responsible for executing his instructions — were failing to carry out his directives regarding payment timelines.

“The Prime Minister’s issue,” Wilson said, “is that he has persons working for him who are not following his instructions. If those officers would follow through on what he told them to do, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Wilson added that the BUT and other unions are demanding retroactive pay dating back to September 2024, and that all increases be applied and paid by the October payday, not December as previously stated by the Prime Minister.

“Senior civil servants already received their retroactive pay — thousands of dollars — backdated to September of last year,” Wilson charged. “We’re saying the small man deserves the same. This isn’t a gift. It’s money already earned.”

Her comments came after the government publicly insisted that the salary adjustments would be implemented by December 2025, just ahead of Christmas — a timeline unions flatly reject as too slow.

Ferguson: ‘No More Excuses’

Following Wilson, BPSU President Kimsley Ferguson delivered a fiery statement of his own, telling reporters the unions would no longer tolerate delays or mixed messages from the Davis administration.

“The Prime Minister was receptive — but we’re not accepting excuses,” Ferguson said. “If the Prime Minister’s having a memory lapse, we have the Hansard from Parliament to remind him exactly what he promised public officers.”

Ferguson went further, warning that if Tuesday’s meeting failed to produce results, unions would “visit the House of Assembly” and intensify their campaign for immediate payment.

“Public servants, ready yourselves,” he declared. “We are prepared to stand together — all across The Bahamas — until our needs are met.”

Now, with the Prime Minister cancelling tomorrow’s talks altogether, that threat appears closer to becoming reality.

Government Bungles Response

Observers say the administration’s handling of the matter has been confused and contradictory, with conflicting statements on payment timelines and poor communication fueling frustration among teachers, nurses, and general public officers.

The government has maintained that the funds are allocated and will be disbursed before year’s end, but unionists insist they’ve heard it all before — and this time they want results, not promises.

The Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the meeting, rather than clarify or de-escalate tensions, has drawn sharp criticism across social media and among rank-and-file civil servants who see the move as punitive and dismissive.

Slowdown and the Threat of Another Mass Protest

Across several ministries, departments, and schools, reports are already surfacing of a go-slow in the public service, as workers express solidarity with the unions’ demands.

Many believe another mass demonstration is imminent, similar to the one staged last week Tuesday when thousands of workers gathered outside the House of Assembly on Bay Street as Parliament reopened after summer recess.

That protest brought parts of downtown Nassau to a standstill as union members sang, marched, and even sat in the street — a powerful show of defiance that now threatens to repeat itself unless the government moves quickly to resolve the impasse.

A Political Flashpoint

What began as a straightforward salary dispute has now evolved into a test of credibility and competence for the Davis administration. With a restless public sector, rising inflation, and unions unified across professions, the government risks not only another protest — but a full-blown industrial crisis heading into the year’s end.

For now, the unions are standing firm: they want retroactive pay from September 2024 and full salary adjustments by this October. Anything less, they warn, could push the country’s workforce from a slowdown into open confrontation.

Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.

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Nassau Cruise Port Marks Sixth Anniversary with Exciting New Additions for Visitors and The community

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[Nassau, Bahamas, October 8, 2025] Nassau Cruise Port (NCP) proudly celebrates its sixth corporate anniversary by unveiling a series of transformative additions that further enhance the guest and community experience. The anniversary comes at a pivotal moment in the growth of the port, with the opening of a new swimming pool, an expanded marina, and a state-of-the-art ferry terminal that will support transfers to the Royal Beach Club, which is currently under construction on Paradise Island.

Since its $300 million redevelopment, Nassau Cruise Port – the largest transit cruise port in the world – has welcomed millions of visitors and become one of the most vibrant cruise destinations in the world. This anniversary not only reflects its commitment to delivering world-class facilities, but also its dedication to creating meaningful connections between visitors and the Bahamian community.

“This milestone represents much more than the passage of time,” said Mike Maura, Jr., CEO and Director of Nassau Cruise Port. “It reflects our promise to continually elevate the guest experience, contribute to the local economy, and provide opportunities for Bahamians. During our first year (2019) of operating the Nassau Cruise Port, Nassau welcomed approximately. 3.85 million cruise guests, and 2025 will see well over 6 million cruise visitors visit Nassau. Our focus on driving cruise tourism and the $350 million investment in our downtown waterfront is a testament to our vision of making Nassau a premier cruise and leisure destination.”

The new pool offers a refreshing retreat for visitors enjoying Nassau’s waterfront, while the expanded marina will accommodate additional yachts, boosting tourism and local commerce. The ferry terminal expansion enhances passenger flow and supports convenient, seamless transfers to the Royal Beach Club, strengthening Nassau’s position as a hub for Caribbean cruising and leisure.

As part of its anniversary celebrations, NCP will host a series of internal and external activities to celebrate its team and to highlight its ongoing investments in the Bahamian economy, including job creation, local vendor opportunities, and cultural showcases at the port.

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