…T&T Central Bank to stay involved
(Trinidad Express) A number of foreign investors have approached CL Financial to buy multi-million-dollar assets, as the Lawrence Duprey-led conglomerate continues to receive Government and Central Bank financial support.
CL Financial Group finance director Michael Carballo said on Saturday there were “strong expressions of interest” to purchase divisions of the group’s spirits business in the United Kingdom and France.
He maintained during a phone interview there would be no quick disposal of the CL Financial subsidiary companies without the involvement of the government and the Central Bank.
On Thursday, Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams said there would be no “fire sale” of CL Financial assets, particularly in light of the projected zero GDP growth of the economy and the global financial meltdown.
On January 30, Duprey and Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira signed an agreement for the State to provided financial help for CL companies CLICO and CLICO Investment Bank after they could not repay hundreds of millions of dollars owed to depositors and investors.
In return, CL Financial agreed to divest some of its major assets to reimburse the government.
Carballo admitted that some of these assets were pledged elsewhere, but said on Saturday that he and CL Financial acted in good faith and never misled or sought to mislead the Central Bank or the government when Duprey approached the State for financial support.