Residents and business bosses could be in line for improvement
A professional services firm is to assess cutting the cost of living and business in Bermuda towards a proposed Competition Act.
MPs heard that Deloitte had been appointed to crunch the numbers and review opinions from public consultation that wrapped up last month.
Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, explained to the House of Assembly the next move towards the Act, which includes improvements from fairer pricing in shops to business mergers being approved by law.
She said Deloitte would deliver independent report to the ministry by the end of October, identifying feedback, sector-specific concerns, potential market impacts and risks.
The ministry will publish a summary showing how feedback was considered, and “refine the framework where the evidence supports change” before Cabinet is invited to approve it before legislation advances.
Ms Lightbourne added: “Engagement will continue as the framework is developed and implemented.”
Deloitte was said to one of the largest professional services firms in Bermuda, offering a comprehensive range including audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services.
Staff have been enlisted with managing the stakeholder consultation, collecting feedback and analysing responses.
Through surveys and meetings with businesses, industry representatives and professional organisations, detailed views were gathered on competitive conditions, practical implementation, potential costs and unintended consequences.
The review extended to telecommunications, financial and insurance services, media, employee organisations and government agencies.
Ms Lightbourne stated: “Our duty is to ensure safeguards exist where concentration gives businesses substantial power over prices, supply or access to essential services.”
She said sector regulation and competition law “address different questions”.
“Sector regulation sets licensing, service standards and pricing within one industry. Competition law governs agreements between businesses, the exercise of market power and the effects of mergers across the economy.
“Without it, we respond to market changes after the fact, and competition lost is far harder to restore than to protect. That is the gap this legislation closes.”
Ms Lightbourne added: “Between 2015 and 2025, grocery prices rose 38 per cent, more than twice the rate of general inflation. Annual health spending exceeds $11,900 per resident.
“A government survey of Bermudians who left the island identified food, housing and utilities, and healthcare costs as the three leading reasons for departure.
“Competition law cannot resolve every cause of these pressures, but it provides the tools to examine whether business conduct or consolidation is raising costs, restricting access or reducing choice.
“The consultation document identifies concerns across the essential sectors.
“In healthcare, consolidation across insurance, medical practices and pharmacy services raises questions of patient choice, access to independent providers and arrangements that direct patients towards connected businesses.
“In grocery retail, consolidation sits alongside the structural challenges of a small market dependent on imported food.
“In pharmaceuticals, alternative suppliers, transparent pricing and access for independent providers directly affect people who rely on regular medication.
“A competition framework provides a fair, structured process for determining whether harm exists and what response is justified.
“The same considerations run through our supply chains.”
She explained: “In energy, the framework would complement sector regulation as renewable generation and battery storage create new openings for participation.
“Competition policy therefore sits within our broader work on affordability and economic opportunity: the prices people pay and the openings available to businesses.”
• To read the minister’s statement in full, see Related Media
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