The payout process for policyholders of the collapsed Clico (Guyana) continued yesterday but there was no information from the liquidators on how many people have so far received money and the totals paid out.
Meanwhile in a letter in yesterday’s Stabroek News, Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram questioned the legality of what he said were disposals of Clico assets on Friday.
“I learnt to my consternation that at the Clico Head Office last Friday, the Bank of Guyana (BoG) purported to dispose of assets of the beleaguered insurance company. Consternation because by that time the BoG and its attorneys should have been notified or ought to have known that it was unlawful for it to act as liquidator, and that under section 449 (b) of the Companies Act 1991, it was guilty of an offence.” Stabroek News was unable to obtain comment from the Bank of Guyana on this yesterday.
Pointing to the participation by an official from the government holding company, NICIL in the process, Ram said “My understanding is that the government might be interested in the huge building in Camp Street to house government ministries, and NICIL which has earned quite an unfavourable reputation over the past few years, would be in a conflict of interest. This building has a market value of $1,503M. I understand, however, that the highest bid was $450M.”
Just after midday yesterday staff, as well as policyholders evacuated the Clico Head Office and stood in the avenue opposite following a bomb scare. The Guyana Fire Service and member of the bomb squad were summoned to conduct investigations. While outside the building, Acting Commissioner of Insurance Tracey Gibson told reporters that the call was received around midday. After standing outside of the building for an hour and a half the employees were allowed back into the building and the process resumed.
While Gibson declined to speak yesterday about the process, some of the policyholders described it as being very simple. Last week, letters were dispatched by the liquidator to various policyholders assigning them various days to visit the Clico head office.
One policyholder said that the entire process took about seven minutes. The policyholder is expected to take along the document from the company, along with an ID card or passport.
The company will then provide a document with the proposed payout amount and if the client is satisfied, he or she signs the document. A cheque to be cashed at GBTI is given.
“I feel good because it’s better than nothing at all,” is what one elderly woman told this newspaper yesterday. “I used to be coming steady asking when they will get this money, they say they still in court, they still in court. Eventually we succeed in getting it today. I am very much thankful,” the woman said.
Meanwhile, one policyholder said that she was not allowed to collect her cheque because she was told that the identification she had brought was not valid. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Stabroek News that she had gone to collect her cheque with her driver’s licence. She explained that her passport had expired and that her ID card had a problem with its picture. The woman was urged to return after she collected her ID card. The woman said that she was anxious to see the value of her cheque since she got reports that some persons were receiving cheques valued “far less” than they were expecting.
At a recent meeting with policyholders at the National Cultural Centre, President Bharrat Jagdeo announced that the $3.6 billion in addition to other available sums would be used to fully repay 11,290 policyholders of Clico (Guyana). Of this $3.6 billion, $3 billion was received from the Caricom Petroleum Fund, to offset Clico’s expenses. The President explained that about $2.7 billion will be used to pay off in full all holders of investment annuity policies and other insurance liabilities not in dispute, subject to a maximum limit of $30 million per policyholder.
NIS
Meanwhile, yesterday Chairman of the Board of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Dr Roger Luncheon said that the Scheme was confident that it would recoup its investment of $6 billion in Clico (Guyana).
Asked about the recouping of this investment during his post Cabinet press briefing, Luncheon pointed to Jagdeo’s announcement that after the payout of the available sums of money, specific attention would be given to liquidated assets and resolution of litigation from which proceeds derived would be used to pay off institutional investors like the NIS. He said given the urgency in which the current payout has been undertaken, the Board has confidence that it will get back its investment.
Luncheon pointed out that the fund of the Scheme is about $30 billion which has been accumulated over the 41 years of its existence. He said that “contribution income and income from interest earned on investments form the major sources of growth in the NIS Fund”. While admitting that the fact that $6 billion was no longer available in an “interest bearing portfolio” would impact the scheme, he emphasized strongly that this would be countered by the interest drawn on the other $24 billion that the Scheme has.
