St. Maarten members ‘committed’ to investigating any lapses at bank

PHILIPSBURG--All St. Maarten members are "committed to investigating any lapses in policy or integrity" of the management of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), St. Maarten Supervisory Board member Robbie Ferron said following Saturday's more than six-hour long board meeting in Willemstad.

Ferron told The Daily Herald that criticism levelled against the St. Maarten board members, which includes Jairo Bloem and Marciella Illidge, that they were not in favour of looking into claims by Curaçao counterparts about lapses in integrity and adherence to policy by the bank's management is simply untrue.

The Curaçao members on the bank board did attend Saturday's meeting, despite earlier statements that they would boycott it.

Ferron said all seven members were present and "a lot of matters" were covered during the lengthy meeting. The board's seventh member Robert Pietersz played "a balanced role" in the proceedings. Another meeting of the supervisory board will be held in the near future; a date is still to be set.

The approval of the minutes of a management meeting of March 7 is still pending approval by the supervisory board. The minutes were a sticking point before the meeting and continue to be because Curaçao board members Renny Maduro, Glenn Camelia and Lincoln James believe some matters, such as the bond, might be unlawful.

"There is no finality about it [the minutes] because of the complexity of the problems," Ferron said, explaining that the complexity has to do with the varying opinions on the issuance of the bond to the harbour and whether it fits with the bank's investment guidelines.

He explained that what is referred to as the bank's "investment policy" is more of a guideline for investment than a fixed policy. Those guidelines are determined by the bank's analysts on the merits and risks of proposed investments.

Whether the issuance of the harbour bond and that for Curaçao utilities company Aqualectra was outside of the guidelines for those particular investments by the Central Bank will be investigated. "It's a complicated process," repeated Ferron.

The St. Maarten delegation was pelted with eggs by protestors outside of the Central Bank headquarters in Curaçao where sentiments ran very high against a US $150 million bond issued by the bank for St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies. The protestors, some 300 in total, were from Curaçao government coalition party Pueblo Soberano (PS).

Ferron said this was not the way to treat or be treated by partners in the financial regulatory institution.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/27301-st-maarten-members-committed-to-investigating-any-lapses-at-bank-.html

World Cup 2018 Supermarkets Florida Banking Ryan Babel Labour