Tag Archives: CL Financial

CLICO Bailout NOT Forgotten

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Posted to Afra Raymond’s website

On Friday 30th January 2009, the CL Financial (CLF) bailout started, so today – 30th January 2019 – is the ten-year anniversary of that fateful decision to commit Public Money to bailout the Caribbean’s largest conglomerate. The companies which were to be bailed-out were: CL Financial Ltd (CLF); Colonial Life Insurance Company Ltd (CLICO); Caribbean Money Market Brokers Ltd (CMMB); Clico Investment Bank (CIB) and British American Insurance Company (Trinidad) Ltd (BAICO).

clf-bailout

The mismanagement of this bailout has exceeded any mismanagement which led to the collapse of CLF, that is my view.

karen-dupreyThe bailout proceeded between 30th January 2009 and 12th June 2009, with over $5.0 Billion in Public Money paid to CLF in that period, under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between then Finance Minister, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, and Lawrence Duprey, then CLF’s Executive Chairman. That MoU governed the expenditure of this vast sum of Public Money before the 12th June signing of the CLF Shareholders’ Agreement. All of which calls into question the continued claims, in relation to the Tobago Sandals project, that MoU’s are non-binding. As we say here, is according.

Follow full text on Afra Raymond’s website.

CL Financial Bailout – filling the gaps, Part II

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clf-bailout2This article provides more details of the games being played in this Information War. It seems that the concealment of the details of the CL Financial bailout is of high importance.

First item is this acknowledgment from the PS in the Ministry of Finance which would be funny, if this entire matter were not so very serious – Read full article at https://afraraymond.net/2018/07/25/cl-financial-bailout-filling-the-gaps-part-two/

CL Financial Bailout – filling the gaps

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Afra Raymond, Citizen Advocate

Citizen Advocate Afra Raymond continues his relentless pursuit for transparency in the CL Financial debacle which unfolded in 2007/2008 and shocked the volatile economies across the Caribbean.

The blogmaster uses the opportunity to remind the newly elected government of Barbados that there was a hint of a promise to pursue principals involved in the local subsidiary governed under the legal entity CLICO Holdings Limited (CHL). We have not forgotten the catastrophic regulatory failure, poor governance and management incompetence that led to untold suffering for some Barbadians and unwanted stress on the pockets of taxpayers.

–David, blogmaster

This article sets out my ongoing search for all the details of all the payments made under the CL Financial bailout. That includes my recently-concluded litigation and my new requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Consent Order of 24th January 2018 required the Ministry of Finance to provide these details –

  1. Any unaudited financial statements of CL Financial Limited for the years 2008-2011 in the possession of the Ministry of Finance which were relied upon to prepare the affidavits of Minister Winston Dookeran filed on 3 April, 2012 in High Court proceedings CV 2011-01234, Percy Farrell and Others v Clico and others.
  2. Any list of the creditors of CL Financial existing at the date of the request in the possession of the Ministry of Finance, the names of the EFPA holders of Clico, the dates of the repayment of EFPA holders of Clico and the identities of those whose investments have been repaid.

Read full Article – CL Financial Bailout – filing the gaps

CL Financial Bailout – how the Integrity Commission Failed to carry out its duty

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There is the saying that there is nothing new under the sun. One aspect of the CL Financial (CLICO) saga Barbadians can learn from is to critique how the Integrity Commission has performed its role given the clamour to impose transparency legislation in Barbados. Citizen Advocate Afra Raymond shares the view that the Integrity Commission failed to discharge its duties in the CL Financial affair.

– David, blogmaster

Yet another worrying aspect of the CL Financial (CLF) bailout fiasco is the role of the Integrity Commission (IC) in these turbid dealings. I am referring to the apparent failure or refusal of The Commission to carry out its duties in relation to CLF as required by the Integrity in Public Life Act (IPLA).

I first raised the prospect that CLF might well be under the IC’s oversight on 28th May 2009, in an article entitled – Judgment Time – Moral Hazard part 3. I have been pursuing that concern steadily since September 2012 and yet the position of the IC is no clearer. On 9th September 2015, I again put the question – Is the integrity Commission being willfully blind towards CL Financial? Indeed, in my March 28th 2018 interview with the Trinidad Express, I stated, in relation to the governance aspects unearthed by my campaign – Read full text on Afra Raymond’ s Website.

Afra Raymond Gets CLICO Data – A Case of FOI Working?

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The incumbent Barbados DLP government promised to introduce Freedom of Information ( FOI) in 2008, it is 2018 and clearly this will be an undeliverable ten years later.

The CLICO debacle which has affected several Caribbean countries continues to reverberate. The catastrophic event has changed (should) how pan-Caribbean companies are managed. Are we satisfied that learnings gleaned in the post-CLICO collapse are being documented and changes made to processes and regulations to mitigate against a recurrence?

– David, Blogmaster

LAST week, nearly six years after he first requested the data under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Ministry of Finance sent Afra Raymond a compact disc with information on all individuals and institutions who received payments from the State for their investments in CLICO, the insurance company that collapsed in January 2009. The matter went to the Court of Appeal before the parties agreed on an out-of-court settlement with the ministry agreeing to most of Raymond’s demands.

For Raymond, an Express Business columnist, property expert and transparency campaigner, it has been a long but ultimately rewarding road, which began with the May 8, 2012 filing with the ministry. As to cost, he will receive 70 per cent of the cost of the litigation in the High Court.

He answers questions on the issue below:

Read full text HERE

CL Financial Bailout – the Eleventh Commandment

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Some of us continue to follow the unraveling of the CL Financial matter in Trinidad and related transactions in the other islands concerning CLICO- the conclusion is the same, what a mess! Trinidad has freedom of information and integrity legislation yet citizen advocate Afra Raymond is being frustrated to access information.

David – Barbados Underground

by AfraRaymond

‘…When we were growing-up, the Ten Commandments were drummed into us, in an effort to impart certain values…the way things are in T&T these days, it looks like we all have to live with the Eleventh Commandment…Thou shalt not be found out!…’ Today is eight weeks after the Appeal Court made its Consent Order on […]

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CL Financial Bailout | Still No Freedom of Information Act Promised TEN Years Ago | Amendment to the Police Act is Coming Though!

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Afra Raymond

The news that the Barbados government has reordered the CLICO business by establishing a new company with a general election a few weeks away makes the following Afra Raymond blogs timely. The challenge for Barbadians is we do not have the same leverage as Afra Raymond in Trinidad to go to Court to exact transparency in the CLICO matter because the government has NOT enacted/proclaimed the FREDOOM OF INFORMATION ACT  – see BU blog Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the one that got away promised 10 years ago!

CL Financial bailout – the consent order

On Wednesday 24th January 2018 we settled the Consent Order in the Appeal Court, in this long-running legal battle between the Ministry of Finance & The Economy and I. That Consent Order will allow the public much better insight into the CL Financial bailout. The Ministry of Finance & The Economy has now agreed to provide two of the three items I requested in 2012 under the Freedom of Information Act –

  1. Any unaudited financial statements of CL Financial Limited for the years 2008-2011 in the possession of the Ministry of Finance which were relied upon to prepare the affidavits of Minister Winston Dookeran filed on 3 April, 2012 in High Court proceedings CV 2011-01234, Percy Farrell and Others v Clico and others.
  2. Any list of the creditors of CL Financial existing at the date of the request in the possession of the Ministry of Finance, the names of the EFPA holders of Clico, the dates of the repayment of EFPA holders of Clico and the identities of those whose investments have been repaid. […]

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CL Financial bailout – the consent order, part two

by AfraRaymond

The previous article gave the essential details of the fight for and contents of the Consent Order between the Ministry of Finance & The Economy and I. It has now been nine days since that Consent Order, yet despite the best efforts of my team we are no closer to understanding this delay. We do not know what reply the Ministry gave its attorneys, who is working on compiling these details, or indeed, if anyone is working on it. Therefore one has to wonder, in relation to the requested details ‘What did they know?‘ and ‘When did they know it?‘

This article will examine these delays.

The Colman Commission was appointed to examine the causes of the failure of CL Financial (CLF) and four of its subsidiaries – […]

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CL Financial Bailout – The Caribbean Connection Part Two

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Afra Raymond, Citizen Advocate

The previous article set out my criticism of the CLF bailout situation in respect of the CARICOM claims and our nation’s treaty obligation to exercise non-discrimination in its policies. In that light I am sceptical of the position now being advanced by the CLF shareholders to highlight that group as being a black-controlled conglomerate. My scepticism was rooted in the apparent refusal or failure of either the CLF shareholders or the T&T State to accept responsibility to meet CARICOM claims arising from the 2009 collapse of CLF.

I am stating here what seem to be the four indispensable elements of an equitable settlement to this CLF bailout.

  1. Settlement of non-T&T claims arising from the collapse of CLF –
    I have been reliably informed that the Policyholders in one OECS Member State have sent Pre-Action Protocol letters to the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in pursuance of their CLF claim. This course of action followed after this OECS Member Government twice wrote to the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago without having the benefit of a response. Clearly wholly unsatisfactory in terms of international diplomacy, particularly in the context of Trinidad and Tobago as a leading CARICOM State, More Developed Country (MDC) and the other CARICOM State, as a Less Developed Country (LDC) in the context of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC). Should matters attendant to the question of fair and equitable treatment between CARICOM Members proceed to litigation they will be expected to be heard by the CCJ which is the Court of Record for disputes arising within the ambit of the Revised Treat of Chaguaramas. If this were to proceed to the CCJ, it would be yet another layer of litigation to be resolved at public expense before the issue can be settled. Consider also that other CARICOM members have not yet litigated so there is a clear and present danger that those states whose citizens’ claims have not been satisfied could join into the entire lawsuit.

Read Full Afra Raymond Article

CL Financial Bailout – the Caribbean Connection

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Former Executive Chairman of CL Financial, parent company of CLICO

My previous article examined the November 2007 appointment of Karen Nunez-Tesheira as our Minister of Finance by then PM, the late Patrick Manning. For whatever reason, the consternation over the appointment of Christian Mouttet to investigate the #ferrygate imbroglio is reminding me of the confusion many people felt when PM Manning made that appointment. An eerie echo from the past, in this, The Season of Reflection.

This article appears the day before the anniversary of T&T’s 55th Independence Day. This week I examine the recent claims by the CLF group and its supporters as to its Black origin and so on. Those claims can be summarised as:

Read full text of Afra Raymond’s article

CL Financial Bailout – Charting the Ruins

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Posted by Afra Raymond

The voices of our leading Artists urge us to search for meaning, if we are serious about building a civilisation out of the lies and ruin we inhabit. That kind of serious building requires a solid foundation which must contain sober reflection and acceptance of responsibility by both the people and the leaders. This is the Season of Reflection, so this week I am looking backward to go forward. A Sankofa pause to delve into these sobering CL Financial events to try to derive some meaning. We have now passed Emancipation, so the series is moving onward to Independence.

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CL Financial Bailout – The Tangled Web

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Former Executive Chairman of CL Financial, parent company of CLICO

by AfraRaymond

“…The official also pointed out that no interest was ever charged on the amount of money that was loaned to the CLF group…” —Quote from an anonymous ‘Government official’ in this newspaper on 21 July 2017. Well yes. A bold-faced snatch-and-grab is now being attempted and our total vigilance is now required. According to the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protestors I saw at Zuccotti Park in 2012 – […]

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CL Financial Bailout – Nitty Gritty

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CL Financial bailout – Nitty Gritty

by AfraRaymond

The CL Financial bailout fiasco is headed towards an epic legal mangle as Lawrence Duprey and his cohort aim to regain control of the Caribbean’s largest-ever commercial/financial group. In swift response, the Minister of Finance is making legal moves to put CLF into liquidation. At the root of this dispute is the actual sum […]

 

 

CL Financial Bailout – False Equivalence?

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In today’s world of ‘Alternative Facts’ we have to be alert to the special dangers posed by ‘False Equivalence’. False Equivalence arises when two arguments are presented as being of equal relevance, but in fact one is solidly fact-based and the other is mere speculation or invention. Those dangers are especially present in matters of public importance, as recent events have shown.

Tony Rakhal-Fraser’s Sunday Guardian column on 25 June 2017, titled Appointing ‘Fit and Proper’ People, made me wince, despite his usual high standard of writing. My reaction arose from what appeared to be an attempt by the Central Bank Governor to promote a new discussion on the fit and proper rules.

Read full text on Afra Raymond’s website – CL Financial bailout – False Equivalence?

CL Financial Bailout – Fit and Proper Action

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Is it conceivable as opined by Afra Raymond that Lawrence Duprey will be able to regain control of the once all powerful CL Financial? – Barbados Underground

That opening stanza is my tweet of a witty friend’s remark at Ferdie Ferreira’s booklaunch and 85th Birthday celebrations on Wednesday 14 June 2017. It was not surprising to see Lawrence Duprey and Carlos John sitting together at that event. We may be seeing Duprey more and more, the way this fiasco is unfolding. There were some media reports that John was suing Duprey for some money owed, but the case now appears to have been resolved by agreement. I took little note of that case, except for one aspect, explained in the sidebar.

By now, we know that Duprey intends to regain control of the CL Financial empire which was bailed-out by the State after its failure in January 2009. There have been reports about Duprey’s legal demands that the State remove its Directors from the CL Financial board, with the State having asked for more time to respond. That contest for control of CLF is not the topic of this article, I am concerned here with the apparent failure and/or refusal of the Central Bank to apply its fit and proper regulations to the CL Financial chiefs.

Full text – CL Financial Bailout

CL Financial Bailout

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Recent events have forced a further re-examination of the proposition that Lawrence Duprey and his chiefs could regain control of the CL Financial group. The Public Interest has been betrayed or badly delayed at every stage of this matter, which is the only reason we are forced to have this painful conversation.

In the BG of 27th April 2017, both Anthony Wilson and Mary King took aim at my assertion that Lawrence Duprey and his chiefs should not be allowed to regain control of the CL Financial group. Last week I responded to them, but subsequent statements from the CLF chiefs show that regaining control of the entire group is the target. Those events include the abortive meeting between Lawrence Duprey and the CLICO Policyholders’ Group, led by Peter Permell; the several press statements from Duprey and his spokesmen, Carlton Reis and Claudius Dacon and the Mid-Year Budget Review from Finance Minister, Colm Imbert.

Read full article – CL Financial bailout – Marooning the Pirates