Don't seek injunction in Clico matter, Ramesh advises

Former Attorney General thinks it's a bad idea for Clico policyholders to file an injunction that would tie up payments to the holders of Clico’s Executive Flexible Annuity Plans and the insurance company’s mutual funds in the courts for years.

Maharaj, who is representing some policyholders, is advising his clients to take a different route.

“It may be that the better course for litigation at this stage is to compel the Government to provide an accurate list of the assets of the company and to give the valuations it is relying upon so that the policyholders would be able to put forward their position on the valuations,” he said.

He also said policyholders should seek the court's intervention "to restrain the disposition, mortgaging or assigning of the assets from which the policyholders have to receive their monies.”

Maharaj said the two courses of action would be "without prejudice to the rights of the policyholders to file action for the recovery of their full sum of monies.”

He said shakeholders need to restrain the Government from selling the assets of Clico's parent company, CL Financial, and Clico itself.

“Information that I have is that the Government is planning to sell some of the most valuable assets relating to the chemical plants—Clico Energy, Caribbean Nitrogen and Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Ltd,” The Trinidad Guardian quoted Maharaj as saying.

The Central Bank obtained an injunction in February to prevent CL Financial from selling any Clico-owned assets. At the time there were plans CL to sell its 51 per cent interest in Clico Energy to Proman AG, a German project management company.