Interim body set up for negotiations between shareholders and FSA

An interim body charged with the responsibility to serve as an intermediary between the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the shareholders of the Building and Loan Association has been formed.{{more}}

Seven persons were elected to sit on the body last Thursday, at a special meeting of shareholders held at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown.

Those selected to sit on the committee are Junior Bacchus, Sylvia Sutherland, Cools Vanloo, Jerry George, Jeannie Ollivierre, Hugh Stewart and Sunel Fraser.

Charles Thompson was selected as a consultant and will report to affected persons living in the diaspora.

Those attending the meeting also voted unanimously to pass a resolution which was drafted to guide the process of gaining shareholder confidence.

Among the points agreed upon are the restoration of the BLA to the shareholders within a specified time frame; amending the existing guidelines governing the financial institution and maintaining the association’s credibility.

The meeting was called by BLA shareholders Junior Bacchus, Jeannie Ollivierre and Cools Vanloo.

Bacchus, chair for the meeting, warned against any possible aggression towards the FSA, saying that if the committee intended to go to the governing body in an adversarial manner, then it did not make sense that they go in the first place.

“We must be prepared to work together with the FSA and to have some trust and engage them to do the things that they said they would do,” Bacchus said.

“We need to have stability, we need to put the BLA back on sound footing,” he continued.

Last week’s meeting was held in an attempt to build back shareholders’ confidence after a letter, written by economist Luke Browne, published in the Vincentian newspaper on January 18 asked if the BLA was on the verge of collapsing.

The FSA took over management and control of the association after a two-week run on the troubled financial institution. (DD)