As I look around our little island and observe all the changes that have happened since 2005 and where we are today, I ask the question: have we progressed or regressed?

In 2004, the Bank of Bermuda was sold to HSBC, among the first of many foreign acquisitions of local companies to come.

At that time, these acquisitions needed ministerial approval.

In 2004, there were approximately 1,040 employed at HSBC. In 2024, there are approximately 320.

In 2012, the following change in legislation continued to allow the selling-out of Bermuda:

“As of 2012, a local company may be exempted from the 60/40 rule if its shares are listed on a designated stock exchange and the company conducts business in a material way in a ‘prescribed industry’, or if the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of such a listed company. The prescribed industries are capital-heavy and include, inter alia, telecommunications, energy, insurance, hotel operations, banking or international transportation services (by ship or aircraft).”

One by one, with the change in our legislation as above, we have seen the control of our larger industries sold to foreign entities and the workforce downsized tremendously.

Then again, in 2020, another legislative change was implemented.

“In this budget session, we will introduce a Bill that will reduce the required ownership of a local company from 60 per cent Bermudian to 40 per cent Bermudian, while maintaining the requirement for the board of directors to be at least 60 per cent Bermudian.”

My questions are these:

Are we better off today with all these changes?

By having so many foreign-owned companies, are our services better?

Are these companies concerned only for their profit margin and not the service they provide to our community?

Have they outsourced many jobs overseas?

Have we progressed or regressed in the past 20 years ?

• Karen Hodgkins is the independent candidate for Southampton West Central (Constituency 31) in the next General Election