BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THOUGH news of Trinidad-based CL Financial’s liquidity woes have grown silent over the last month, the Federation’s Minister of Finance Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris has maintained that his ministry would continue to engage the government of Trinidad and Tobago in order to arrive at a solution to protect local investors.
Since the company’s financial difficulties had worsened in mid-January of this year, the country’s government had moved to take control of its assets and operations. The multi-billion dollar conglomerate manages two of the largest insurance companies in the Eastern Caribbean: Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) and British American Insurance (BA), which have, as a result, experienced financial turbulence.
According to Dr. Harris, the government of Trinidad and Tobago is a “critical part of the solution to the CL Financial debacle” and is in a “critical position” to protect depositors and investors in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) region.
“The actions the government took in January in taking over the institution brought it into a critical position. It [the government of Trinidad and Tobago] indicated that it will protect the depositors there. But, we have been asking for the same degree of coverage within the OECS sub-region since the management of British America was done out of Trinidad and Tobago,” Harris told SKNVibes in an exclusive interview.
He said there are reasons of equity which should cause the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to be “more open to discussion” than it has hitherto been.
Tomorrow’s (June 18) Meeting of the Monetary Council in St. Vincent and the Grenadines should address the CL Financial issue in depth, according to Harris. And, Ministers of Finance within the region will discuss the issue to ensure that interests of investors and depositors within the OECS sub-region are protected.
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