PP gov't stands by Clico plan, will defend it in court if necessary

The government of Trinidad and Tobago will soften its approach to dealing with Clico depositors, Finance Minister Winston Dookeran said Tuesday he will consider a proposal for a "special window" for depositors adversely affected by genuine cases of hardship.

Speaking with reporters at a news conference in Port of Spain Dookeran said, "We recognise that there are some individuals who may have hardship situations,..

"We don't expect it to be many and these are genuinely hardship situations, and to that extent we are considering a special window to deal with cases who have genuine hardship and, by that, I mean matters of life and death."

However the minister said he is not deviating from pursuing "what clearly is a model for resuscitation of the financial sector".

Dookeran has proposed a maximum initial payment of $75,000 to investors and where the principal amount exceeds the ceiling, the government will pay the balance in IOU's over a 20-year period with no interest.

That has sparked a firestorm of protests from people who will be getting the IOU's. They claim it is a breach of the MOU signed between the government at the time and CL in January 2009.

A group of CLICO depositors is seeking a meeting with either Dookeran or Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to discuss alternatives.

Dookeran, acting Prime Minister Errol McLeod and Attorney General Anand Ramlogan appeared together at the news conference to clarify certain "misinformation".

Mc Leod told reporters, "There has been a whole lot of misinformation and we have seen a level of political and other opportunism taking place since our announcement of the steps the People's Partnership Government intends to take as we set out to assist the thousands of people who have invested in CL Financial and CLICO."

He added, "We have an irreversible responsibility to see after the many, even as we address the interests of the few. And 1.3 million must be many times more than the few."

Dookeran addressed the issue of the guarantee offered to CLICO depositors by the previous Manning PNM government stating that it "can only become effective in our system if there was parliamentary appropriation of the funds." He said the previous government did not do that.

The minister described his government's offer as "generous and fair", and advised that the bonds being offered to depositors are "sovereign bonds" with "first claim on the Government treasury".

"There is nothing that they are losing and it amazes me when I hear those cries in the wilderness," Dookeran said.

Ramlogan defended the legality of what the government is doing. "I want to reassure the national community that what we have done is in accordance with the laws of Trinidad and Tobago and we have no reservations or qualms about any allegations of illegality.

"And any threat of legal action, we stand ready, able and willing to defend the rights of the State and citizens of this country," Ramlogan said.

"There is a fundamental flaw in the logic of the legal arguments that have been put forward. The assistance which we are rendering directly to the depositors is not a matter that will involve the regulatory aspects of the Central Bank's powers.

"It is in fact a private arrangement between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and depositors who may which to avail themselves of the assistance which we are offering."

The AG said the government will table a bill in parliament Friday to "give legal authority and proper framework to effect this solution".