No contradiction on when Gov't knew about CL crisis

Senior cabinet minister Colm Imbert on Thursday accused the Trinidad Express of making a "false, misleading, libellous and scandalous" about when government learned about the CL crisis.

The paper reported that Imbert stated at a parliamentary committee siting that he had been aware of the CLICO crisis since April 2008. He told reporters he never made such a statement and accused the Express of fabricating the story.

But Imbert denied knowledge of the CLICO issue. In a statement to the Senate he said, “In the story, it is alleged that during the committee stage of the Insurance Amendment Bill 2009, I contradicted the Minister of Finance by alleging that the Government was aware of the CLICO crisis since April 2008.

“Mr President, I wish to state categorically that the story is false and misleading and I neither said, implied or even insinuated any such thing in the House of Representatives during the debate and or committee stage of the Insurance Amendment Bill 2009.”

He said the Hansard record and and review of the video and audio tapes of Wednesday’s procedure, would confirm the facts “and the truth is the opposite of what was published in the Express."

He said Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma asked him during the committee stage of the Insurance Amendment Bill 2009 why the Central Bank reported requesting CLICO to remove some of its Republic Bank shares from the statutory fund in 2008.

Imbert said a Central Bank official advised that in April 2008, CLICO, among other insurance companies, was requested to implement measures to ensure that they were compliant with insurance regulations.

“Anyone who has a cursory knowledge of this matter will know that the question was not a question of liquidity or insolvency but rather asset allocation...However, at no time did I say that the Government was aware, since 2008, that CLICO was in crisis.

“There was nothing said by me in the House...to even remotely indicate that any member of the Government was aware of the so-called CLICO crisis since 2008, nor did I at any time contradict anything said by the Minister of Finance.

“The Express article is therefore false, misleading, libellous and scandalous and clearly intended to create confusion and uncertainly in the minds of the general public,” he told Senators.

Imbert added that the Inspector of Financial Institutions at the Central Bank had also reaffirmed that CLICO's liquidity problems not brought to the attention of the Minister of Finance before January 14, 2009.