The Ministry of Finance has released the terms of reference for the “Blue Ribbon Panel” reviewing the controversial airport redevelopment project.

The terms of reference sets out the objective, background, scope, deliverables and timing of the review.

According to the document, the panel is tasked with considering the Project Agreement and “any other documentation related to the transaction so that it may form its independent view of whether the deal is reasonable and fair”.

It states: “The panel will have complete access to documentation related to the transaction, the Bermuda Government’s legal, financial, technical, and project management advisers, senior representatives of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and Aecon Concessions.

“The panel is expected to review the documentation, ask questions and challenge the information, as it may wish to do, in order to reach a consensus view of whether the transaction, which is at a substantially complete stage, is commercially sound.”

The panel is further tasked with considering if the transaction meets several criteria, including increasing traffic volume and revenue, addressing the structural needs of the airport and improving the customer experience, as well as if the transaction incentivises the concessionaire to support the Government’s long-term objectives.

Other criteria include determining if the deal is within the parameters for similar P3 airport concession transactions in the market, and if it provides for the Government to share in benefits while mitigating downside risks. The independent panel is expected to present their conclusions to the Minister of Finance at the end of this month.

The panel is chaired by Malcolm Butterfield, a retired managing director at KPMG, and includes Craig Simmons, economics senior lecturer at the Bermuda College, Gil Tucker, retired chairman of Ernst & Young Ltd, Barclay Simmons, a managing partner of ASW Law and chairman of Butterfield Bank, Anthony Joaquin, retired partner of Ernst & Young and chairman of HSBC Bermuda, and Caroline Foulger, retired partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers.