est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

, , ,

Financial Services Commission Issues Cease Trade Order on Government Securities

The decision by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to suspend trading in government securities effective 5 July 2018, although routine based on government’s decision to default on debt, the implications will not be. If the unconfirmed news that Avinash Persaud is the Chairman of the FSC, it is understandable why Prime Minister Mia Mottley prefers…

,
avinash_persaud
Avinash D. Persaud, Chairman of the FSC (?)

The decision by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to suspend trading in government securities effective 5 July 2018, although routine based on government’s decision to default on debt, the implications will not be. If the unconfirmed news that Avinash Persaud is the Chairman of the FSC, it is understandable why Prime Minister Mia Mottley prefers a team player. The blogmaster understands the routine of the changing of the Boards once a new government or Minister takes charge although there is nothing that would have prevented his reappointment.

116 responses to “Financial Services Commission Issues Cease Trade Order on Government Securities”

  1. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    Is there no opinion as to whether the blog owner thinks it is a good decision to drop Jeff and put Avinash.

    Yes we understand the team player bit mentioned but I expected some more in this article .For example what role its expected that Persaud will play there in this current environment.

    Perhaps a little more info on the implications of suspending trading in govt securities etc.

  2. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    On another note I am so pleased to see that the prime minister is going to hold disccussions with the commercial banks about a number of national concerns.

    She mentioned mortgage hardship and delinquency and delisting.I hope she also address the matter of unreasonable fees, these low or almost non existentinterest payments,and other unilateral – one sided decisions taken by these banks.

    Perhaps its time to look at an empowering an entity other than the Fair trading to work on behalf of the customers and can impose strong penalties where there is a breach.

    I feel Mia is best placed to deal with this issue and will get the support of the banks since we know the private sector worked hard to ensure her victory and cannot be seen to be undermining her now.

    I trust that she dialogues with the officers at the Fair Trading and get a report from them detailing the various issues raised by the public against these banks.

    I totally support her in this move if its going to bring positive change.

    These are some of the low hanging fruits that can be dealt with early on and which will impact the ordinary citizen.

  3. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    sorry – should be De risking *

  4. T.Inniss Avatar
    T.Inniss

    There is another NEW Minister – senator Kay Mcconney – minister of Science,Innovation and Smart Technology.

    So why do we need a tsar or consultant in Smart Technology – with Analee Babb?

  5. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @Blogmaster
    “The blogmaster understands the routine of the changing of the Boards once a new government or Minister takes charge although there is nothing that would have prevented his reappointment”

    What has the former Chairman of the FSC done to distinguish himself in the position? To take the FSC forward? To enable innovation?To protect Bajan consumers? To make Barbados more competitive as an offshore jurisdiction? To introduce cutting edge products ?

    Although legal input is necessary, financial regulation is less about “lawyer thinking” and more about “financial market participant thinking”. Enough with the paper pushing lawyer types.

    There are too many lawyers in important positions in Barbados. Many times [not always] they add very little value.

    A. Dullard

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Jeff was a Board member, Frank Alleyne was chairman, blogmaster’s error.

  7. Alien Avatar
    Alien

    This compared to so little or no FSC action on Cable & Wireless

  8. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “What has the former Chairman of the FSC done to distinguish himself in the position? To take the FSC forward?…..”

    A. Dullard

    Was Jeff Cumberbatch chairman of the FTC or the FSC…..or BOTH?

    However, I agree with your above comment.

    And I also believe the concerns raised by David BU, and are likely to be raised by others, relative to (non) reappointment of Jeff Cumberbatch….. may be perhaps based on sentimental reasons (i.e. Jeff posts his weekly articles and is a regular contributor to BU)…..

    ……rather than the right of the PM to choose her own team……as is the normal practice when there’s a change of administration or minister.

    To be CONSISTENT and FAIR……similar concerns should also be raised, for example, for the replacement of former DLP candidate for the City and chairman of the Transport Authority, Abdul Pandor, (purposely mentioned), with Ian Estwick…..

    …….or the replacement of several other former chairmen and board members identified in the recently announced changes in the hierarchy of the other SOE.

    And in all fairness, then we should laud government for the reappointment of Dr. Justin Robinson to the Board of the Barbados Central Bank.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    An interesting ink.

    https://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii-2018-report

  10. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    David BU

    I went on the site and I noticed a usual occurrence.

    Have you ever noticed that the only island in the Caribbean island many of these international “agencies” include in their listings is Jamaica?

  11. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ David and Artax

    Fair enough re chairmanship of FSC vs FTC.

    But the points stand that (1) whomever was in charge, the FSC has done a poor job. (2) The non-renewal of Mr Cumberbatch’s contract should be no surprise. (3) To many non-performing lawyers in critical positions when perhaps an accountant or engineer or carpenter may be a better option.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Not sure what you want the FSC to do given the resources available to it.

    @Artax

    Yes, observed same, sometimes there is Trinidad and Bahamas.

  13. David Avatar
    David

    Jeff was the chairman of the FTC and board member of the FSC. The error was corrected. Regarding your point about giving an opinion on the matter, sometimes the preference is to solicit opinions from the BU family.

  14. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “To many non-performing lawyers in critical positions when perhaps an accountant or engineer or carpenter may be a better option….”

    A. Dullard

    Interesting observation.

    The Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit is a lawyer.

    “In fact,” the last time I checked, the prerequisite qualification for appointment to that Unit, is a law degree.

    And given the mandate of the Unit, there aren’t any accountants or even a forensic accountant among the employees.

  15. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    “Not sure what you want the FSC to do given the resources available to it.”
    How about doing its job?

    Come on Blogmaster that is a cheap cop out. It is not a question of resources but of allocation of available resources i.e the long time Bajan disease of square pegs in round holes.

    Have you ever noticed that the only island in the Caribbean island many of these international “agencies” include in their listings is Jamaica/ Trinidad/ Bahamas?

    Many Bajans tend to be too inward looking. Plus, many are happy to just sit in a position and not keep up with/ engage the outside for the benefit of the island.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @Dullard

    Did you read the IMF report that was leaked?

  17. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ David, I believe I did. What’s your point?

  18. Jean Avatar
    Jean

    “There are too many lawyers in important positions in Barbados. Many times [not always] they add very little value.”

    Like the one they just appointed as the Chairman of the Transport Board. A complete waste. More bull shit.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @A.Dullard

    One of the highlights of the IMF report was the gap in resources and expertise required by the FSC to supervise the industry. Especially a company like Sagicor given is complexity.

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/fsc-imf-sagicor.pdf

  20. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Trump is now threatening to impose tariffs on ALL Chinese imports. If this happens and China calls in its US debt, what will happen?Will Barbados be safe?

  21. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    A. Dullard,

    It is called regulatory incompetence. We always put square pegs in round holes. Our administrative class is grossly incompetent – but of course they all have degrees from Cave Hill and shiny suits from Cave Shepherd and high-performance cars from Simpson’s and, of course, they punch above their weight. In the real world it is called delusion.

  22. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    One of the highlights of the IMF report was the gap in resources and expertise required by the FSC to supervise the industry. Especially a company like Sagicor given is complexity

    C’mon David.
    There is a resource gap, yes but that’s not the key issue. Why is it there? The gap did not materialize from thin air. It is there because of poor management i.e square peg-round hole and can be fixed with better management.
    There is already the expertise in Bdos that can vastly improve the FSC tomorrow if the government wants. Financial regulation is not rocket science. The best regulators come from industry. Why not hire people from there instead of from the pen pushing civil servant pool? This happens all the time in more forward thinking jurisdictions.

    A. Dullard

  23. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ Hal Austin

    Agreed that “Our administrative class is grossly incompetent”

  24. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ Artax
    “In fact,” the last time I checked, the prerequisite qualification for appointment to that Unit, is a law degree.
    And given the mandate of the Unit, there aren’t any accountants or even a forensic accountant among the employees.

    Yup. Makes no sense at all.

  25. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    On another point. LED management has forward a concern and the possibilty of not having money upfront to buy product out of the Canadian market
    Hus concern being that barbados default might be a cause for the tightening around the nooze if barbados businesses

  26. David Avatar
    David

    @A.Dullard

    Why did Randy Graham leave the FSC?

    Another manager exited in recent weeks, why?

  27. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Seems like we are all between a rock and a hard place, the first world countries too, although they have some more padding on their economic bones, so they might not yet feel the squeeze as much as some other less well off or diverse economies do.

    Viktor Shvets: ‘The Private Sector Will Never Recover’

    Do you feel something is wrong with the United States and the global economy? Despite a respectable recovery and low unemployment, many people aren’t happy with their current economic situation or their outlook for the future. From rising prices for basic necessities or schooling, to harsh competition and low pay for lower income jobs, to negative interest rates—the poor and the middle class all have their problems to deal with.

    Experts in the government and central banks are trying to manage a suboptimal situation but cannot isolate the problem, let alone offer solutions. Or maybe they know what’s wrong but don’t want to talk about it because the truth is too shocking.

    Enter Viktor Shvets, the global strategist of the investment bank Macquarie Group. He not only dares to think outside the box but also isn’t afraid to openly voice his opinions, which are fascinating and shocking at the same time.

    The private sector will never recover, it will never multiply money again,” he told Epoch Times. His main theme is the “declining return on humans,” which means that in today’s digital world, normal humans don’t grow productivity fast enough to justify more jobs and higher wages as the machines are taking over.

    “There is no productivity on a global basis. Secular stagnation, technological shifts, monetary policy, all are suppressing productivity growth rates,” he said. But what about technology making humans more productive? Shvets says this was true in the first and second industrial revolution, when displaced jobs, such as the horse-cart driver, eventually morphed into higher-tech and higher-productivity ones, like the taxi driver.

    However, in this, the third industrial revolution, machines are not augmenting humans, they are replacing them. The self-driving car will completely eliminate the driver. And even in the previous, more-mechanical industrial revolutions, it often took decades for productivity growth to recover and for jobs to come back, and only after higher-productivity sectors dominated the majority of the economy.

    And not only lower-skilled jobs like taxi drivers are threatened. Just look at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where you can barely see a human specialist trader anymore. The machines in New Jersey have taken over the trading.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/viktor-shvets-the-private-sector-will-never-recover_2143386.html?utm_expvariant=D001_01&utm_expid=21082672-11.b4WAd2xRR0ybC6ydhoAj9w.1&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blacklistednews.com%2F_A_Gold_Standard_%2522Comes_After_War%252C_Not_Before%2522_Macquarie_Warns_%2522The_Private_Sector_Will_Never_Recover%2522%2F53678%2F0%2F38%2F38%2FY%2FM.html

  28. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    ” FIRSTCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) has realised an 18 per cent increase in profits for the second quarter of its 2018 financial year.

    The Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Gary Brown, has reported that FCIB recorded a net profit of $43.9 million for the period ended April 30, 2018, compared to $37.2 million for the corresponding period a year ago.”

  29. sirfuzzy Avatar
    sirfuzzy

    Quoted
    “The private sector will never recover, it will never multiply money again,” he told Epoch Times. His main theme is the “declining return on humans,” which means that in today’s digital world, normal humans don’t grow productivity fast enough to justify more jobs and higher wages as the machines are taking over.”

    I truly hope the trade unions are paying attention to this. The world of work as we know it is about to change bout hay.

    I do believe that MAM is serious about remaking the way Barbados operates ,but i am no so sure her vision will be very compatible with the current trade union ethos that we have come to embrace.

  30. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ Blogmaster
    Why did Randy Graham leave the FSC?
    Another manager exited in recent weeks, why?

    I do not know. Please enlighten me.

    PS: You know the old saying about monkeys, peanuts and pay right?

    A. Dullard

  31. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Hants at 10 :18 AM

    Noted.

    Is FCIB’s increase in profits a good thing or bad thing for the economy of Barbados?

    Did you note which assets yielded these increases in profit?

    Is this level of profit sustainable?

    Why was the attempt to float the shares on the US stock exchange withdrawn despite this profit performance?

    Man, spin me a more interesting story nuh.

  32. Jeff Cumberbatch Avatar
    Jeff Cumberbatch

    Is there no opinion as to whether the blog owner thinks it is a good decision to drop Jeff and put Avinash.

    Note that I was merely a Commissioner of the FSC and not Chairman of the Board of the Commissioners. That was Sir Frank Alleyne. I was Chairman of the FTC!

  33. Jeff Cumberbatch Avatar
    Jeff Cumberbatch

    Answered the first submission in limine and so missed your subsequent clarification, David. Thanks!

  34. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Dullard at 10 :57 AM

    I know for sure Randy Graham is no monkey. I do not know whether he is allergic to peanuts. And I doubt that he is motivated by pay alone.

    Highly qualified persons change jobs for various reasons including job satisfaction. Money is not everything.

  35. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @Bernard Codrington, how could you so spectacularly miss the point?

  36. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ David BU

    There is a growing tendency in this country to retain institutions long after the purpose for which they were designed and established has past or no longer relevant.

    There is also a tendency to introduce new institutions from other places to our environment that are not relevant.
    We need to spend more time in thinking through what it is we are trying to achieve .
    Did we really need all of these SOEs that we setup in the past 30 years?

  37. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Dullard at 11:37 AM

    I am not the brightest in BU. I have a tendency to miss points. Mr. Dullard what is the point that I missed?

  38. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    This article is about Bizzy Williams’ contribution to a policy initiative…..

    ……as usual the political operatives have managed to change the focus of the discussion to suit there political agenda.

  39. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    ******their political agenda.

  40. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    So how interesting that THE same gawd flies that lambasted Bizzy for ten years now finds bizzy input to be of interst to them and their party
    Remember Red jet

    Gawd i am dizzy

  41. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ Codrington
    “Mr. Dullard what is the point that I missed?”

    Let me show you. You seem slow.

    I know for sure Randy Graham is no monkey. I do not know whether he is allergic to peanuts. And I doubt that he is motivated by pay alone. Highly qualified persons change jobs for various reasons including job satisfaction. Money is not everything.

    All irrelevant nonsense.

    You read my comment “PS: You know the old saying about monkeys, peanuts and pay right?” and inferred your bollocks above but if you grasped the context of my exchange with the Blogmaster you would understand that I meant just the opposite.

    You are very honest when you state “I am not the brightest in BU. I have a tendency to miss points.”

  42. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Dullard at 11: 51 AM

    You got that right . I rate honesty very highly. Effective communication very often involves being on the same wave length. Obviously ,the point of the message was not meant for me.

    Thank you all the same.

  43. A. Dullard Avatar
    A. Dullard

    @ Bernard Codrington
    “I rate honesty very highly.” As do I — but I also rate looking before leaping. The final word is yours.

    A. Dullard

  44. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “Did we really need all of these SOEs that we setup in the past 30 years?”

    Mr. Codrington

    The answer is NO!!

    Owen Arthur closed the Housing Welfare Section of the National Assistance Board (NAB) to establish the ineffective Urban and Rural Development Commissions (UDC & RDC).

    The NHC, UDC, RDC and NAB provide similar services and could be amalgamated.

    How effective is the FSC? What changes in policy has it implemented as a result of lessons learnt from CLICO and Sagicor relocating to Bermuda?

    How effective is the FTC, especially if one takes into consideration its limitations as it relates to certain consumer matters, which are referred to the Office of Public Counsel?

    One of the responsibilities of Transport Authority is to issue PSV permits. Could the Transport Board not be amalgamated with the TA?

  45. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    Why was RedJet mentioned?

    It is interesting to note that airline commenced operations on May 10, 2011 and ceased operations on June 8, 2012.

  46. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Possibly the question is…..why did it take a month after the GoB’s selective default, to issue a Cease Trading order? Why didn’t the BSE cease trading immediately? Not much trades in this market anyways.
    The BSE is another behemoth of an organization. The costs to trade on it are astronomical. And given all the recent listing defections without replacements, it must lose money? I would guess its primary revenue is from are called “put throughs”.

  47. David Avatar
    David

    @A. Dullard

    It goes back to issue of resources discussed earlier? Can the FSC compete against the pay scale of the private sector to win the expertise that you suggested is available in the private sector?

  48. David Avatar
    David

    @Bernard

    The profit is increasing in the non interest item, obviously.

  49. David Avatar
    David

    Clearly the Supervisor of Insurane and Rigistrar is Cooperatives were ineffective. A change had to be made.

  50. Bernard Codrington Avatar
    Bernard Codrington

    @ Artax at 12:27 PM

    I agree with you. GOB would cut Public expenditure by a significant amount by rationalizing these SOEs along the lines you have suggested. This would not necessarily lead to lay offs. Some of the senior officers can opt for early retirement; some can be offered suitable jobs in the Public service; others because of their expertise will find similar jobs in the Private sector.
    The younger ones are re-trainable for the New Economy which is evolving as we type.

    There is a high level of attrition in the Public and Private Sectors. The aging population syndrome is impacting these sectors despite raising the age of retirement. We just need to do the maths and schedule the retrenchment accordingly.

1 2 3
Newer Comments

The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading