No evidence of conflict of interest

Mar 21, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to your recent Editorial (March 20, 2024), titled “US$25 Million Hayven Loan.” While this Editorial presented no evidence to support the claims of the existence of a conflict of interest, it did attempt to persuade readers that there must be something there.

The Editorial is therefore disappointing though not surprising. Since undertaking this responsibility, your paper has implied through a series of articles that there is something untoward about my involvement in the audit.

I want to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence to support such insinuations. Furthermore, I have consistently upheld the highest ethical standards throughout this process as I have done for my entire career to this point. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise.

The standards for establishing a “conflict of interest” legally or ethically are very clear, and have not been met by your Editorial. The result is merely an attempt to besmirch my professional reputation and good character for no obvious reason. I am stating here unequivocally that with respect to the 2018-2020 Cost Recovery audit of ExxonMobil, there exists no conflict of interest on my part or on the part of New Hayven Merchant Bank (NHMB).

Further, VHE Consulting and the NHMB are two completely different and separate businesses with different service offerings. As such, it is imperative to clarify that the audit in question was not conducted by NHMB or by me personally. The audit was
performed by a local consortium, VHE Consulting, comprised of three local firms (Ramdihal & Haynes, Vitality, & Eclisar), in collaboration with our international partners, Martindale Consultants Inc. and Squire Patton Boggs – both firms whose reputation is beyond reproach in their respective fields. The terms of the contract are publicly available for review.

My selection to lead the team was based on my extensive professional experience and qualifications and I accepted this position out of a sense of patriotism rather than any financial incentive. These audits were conducted with the utmost professional standards and due diligence. Our comprehensive report, which will be made public, was submitted on time, and the team is confident that it can withstand any level of scrutiny.

With respect to the Editorial’s efforts to cast a shadow over the upcoming audit, I wish to state, for the record, that VHE Consulting has again assembled a highly experienced and reputable team to submit a bid for the contract to perform audits for the years 2021 to 2023. This team includes international partners such as Martindale Consultants Inc., Squire Patton Boggs, and Bayphase Limited. This team possesses extensive and reputable experience. We await the outcome of the procurement process.

My preference would have been to ignore the Editorial but I was advised that, regrettably, insinuations and accusations, no matter how baseless, are often given undue credence in some quarters. I am therefore providing this background and clarification so that factual accuracy might prevail in our discussions. Many thanks for the space to publish this response. Please also note that the name of our institution is “NewHayven Merchant Bank” (NHMB), and not “Hayven” as appears in your title.

Best regards,

Floyd Haynes

Chairman – New Hayven Merchant Bank

Partner – VHE Consulting

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Editorial, Floyd Haynes, insinuations, New Hayven Merchant Bank (NHMB), VHE Consulting

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