At the end of February, $4.4B had been paid out to 8,634 policyholders of the now liquidated CLICO (Guyana) Inc.
This was revealed by Minister of Finance Ashni Singh during his budget speech on Monday.
Singh said: “In the insurance sector, progress continues to be made in resolving the domestic chapter of the Clico debacle. As at the end of last month, amounts totalling $4.4 billion were paid out to 8,634 policyholders up to a maximum of $30 million per policyholder, as a result of which virtually all small policyholders were paid in full.”
He said that the liquidator intends to continue to gather more funds from the sale of company assets and legal action including in relation to other companies in the Clico group outside of Guyana.
Singh added that work has also started on the putting together of a revised Insurance Act and a new Pensions Act to bolster the regulatory and supervisory framework governing the industry.
The Guyana Government had faced much flak over the collapse of CLICO (Guyana) in January 2010. In the days after its parent company sought a bailout from the Trinidad government, officials here had tried to assure that all was well with the local subsidiary. All was not well and it was later found out that a huge sum in excess of what should be allowed to leave the country had been transferred to Clico Bahamas. That subsidiary later collapsed meaning there was no chance of a recovery of the funds. The government has not given into demands for a full probe of the collapse of CLICO (Guyana).
Singh also said in his budget speech that work will be advanced to re-assess legislation for credit unions, with the aim of bringing them also within the supervisory ambit of the Bank of Guyana. There has been growing concern across the region about the amount of money held by credit unions and the
quality of their management.
Singh also revealed that steps will intensify this year to stiffen “institutional capabilities to implement the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Act and establish an adequate anti-money laundering architecture in keeping with applicable standards. A total of nine supervisory authorities have been appointed to date, in relation to casinos, cooperatives, charities, dealers in precious and semi-precious stones and precious metals, financial leasing, money transfer agencies, trust and company service providers, and insurance businesses. Reporting entities were sensitised on customer reporting requirements via circulars, and training sessions were conducted with customs officers at the CJIA and compliance officers of money transfer agencies and cambios”, he said.
Singh said that this year, government will bring “proposed amendments to the AMLCFT Act to further strengthen that Act and bring it in line with current international requirements.”
