Questions for CLICO and the Commissioner of Insurance

Feb 02, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

Public Sector organisations, businesses and individuals have collectively invested what I suspect must be billions of dollars with CLICO (Guyana) in their FPA and EFPA schemes.

I suspect that most of this money was invested abroad and is under the control of CL Financial. This investment most likely violates the Insurance Act and the need for portfolio diversification, and has been of great concern to me for years. My concerns grew as the bottom fell out of energy and real estate markets which represent, together with alcoholic beverages, the main areas of interest for CL Financial.

Fearing the worst, I called the Commissioner of Insurance sometime around October last year to raise these concerns, and I was directed to speak with the Legal Officer, who assured me that they were addressing this matter. I felt and suggested that CLICO should have been asked to repatriate these funds immediately. I ended my conversation with the Legal Officer by requesting that she advise the Commissioner about my concerns.

This is a grave matter for Guyana, and the utterances of the CEO of CLICO (Guyana) have not been reassuring to me. Consequently, I would like either the CEO or the Commissioner to answer the following questions: (1) What is the total amount deposited by local organisations and individuals with CLICO under the FPA and EFPA schemes? (2) What percentage of the amounts deposited was invested overseas? (3) Was the Insurance Act (or other Acts applicable to local financial institutions) violated based on the amounts invested overseas? Additionally, a brief outline of how these funds have been invested should be provided.

For example, were the funds invested in real estate, energy, etc? The Minister of Finance should demand a computation of the current market value of these funds, as there may have been significant impairment. It would be unusual to ask CLICO to make public all of its investment practices, but these are not normal times. The guarantees offered to CLICO (Trinidad) by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will, most likely, not be extended to Guyanese policyholders.

I am fearful that the regulators, whilst not asleep, were not paying enough attention to this matter, which was brewing for years.

Terrence Campbell

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News