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What is the Status of the Dookeran Bail Out Plan?
Posted: Saturday, October 2, 2010

By Stephen Kangal
October 02, 2010


After the Prime Minister's statement delivered in the House on Friday in which she announced:

-- the appointment of an Inter-Ministerial Bharath Consultative Committee,

-- a Commission of Inquiry into the CLICO/HCU/CL Financial debacle and

-- the discontinuance/abandonment of the aborted Central Bank 2010 Amendment Bill that will be replaced by other potential alternative measures/options.

The question is what is the status of the Dookeran CLICO/HCU bailout plan that was passed in his Budget?

That plan was supposed to and had to be legalized prior to enforcement by the passage of the amending abandoned Bill according to the Minister. Has this Plan been abandoned? Will this Plan now, enjoying Budgetary fiscal measure status, be down-graded to the status of recommendation from the Minister of Finance and be referred to the Governor of the Central Bank for adoption and implementation in the exercise of his exclusive jurisdiction under 44 (D) to continue to manage CLICO for the benefit of policy-holders?

Is the Bharath Inter-Ministerial Committee empowered to radically change some of the Dookeran budget-sanctioned proposals based on the requisite consultations with the CLICO Policyholders Group prior to submission to Governor Williams? Will CB Governor Williams in fact consider resigning because of his interpretation of a demonstration of a lack of confidence from the Government symbolized by the usurpation of his exclusive mandate over CLICO via the Budget Dookeran Plan, lack of effective supervision of the Statutory Fund and further by the aborted CB Amendment Bill?

The further question is will any proposed new and amended bailout plan be dependent and conditional on the factoring into it of the conclusions and recommendations of the time-consuming, potentially extra-territorial Commission of Inquiry to be constituted into CLICO/CLF/BAT/CIB/HCU prior to implementation by the Central Bank/Minister of Finance? Is this inquiry appointed by the Government ultra vires the 2009 Central Bank Act?

What is the position of current CLICO policy-holders/HCU depositors during this lengthy inter-regnum with respect to getting back their money from current/future matured policies/annuities? Has Central Bank/Minister of Finance funding dried up on CLICO and BAT?

Has the Prime Minister opened a Pandora's Box the consequences of which cannot be contained and managed?



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