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Howai: Govt to wrap up Clico issue this year

Nadaleen Singh
Published: 
Tuesday, October 2, 2012

 

Government plans to wrap up the Clico issue this year, said Finance Minister, Larry Howai. Howai added that it has cost the national community $19.7 billion. “I am pleased to report that as at September 18, 2012 25, 115 STIP holders, including credit unions and trade unions, accounting for $10.268 billion have accepted the Government’s settlement offer. We shall launch the CLICO Investment Fund on November 1st, 2012 and on January 2nd, 2013 trading will begin on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange for the units of those persons who exchanged their 11-20 year bonds for units in the Clico Investment Fund.”
 
The assets underlying the Clico Investment Fund are the insurance company’s ownership of 51.8 million Republic Bank shares, which will be transferred to the Government and then to the Fund. The policyholders will then be given the option of converting their 11 to 20 zero-coupon bonds into the equivalent number of units in the Fund at a one-to-one ratio. In an immediate response, Peter Permell Chairman Clico Policyholders Group said he supports the decision by the Government to wrap up the Clico issue but there are outstanding issues.
 
Permell expressed concern that the number of units the policyholders would be entitled to receive would be less based on the appreciation of the Republic Bank share price from last October when the proposal was first publicised.  “The other detail which would be important is what would be the conversion rate from bonds into units. Although the Minister of Finance has not stated what would be the conversion rate, that is an issue we certainly would pay close attention to.” The Clico policyholders prefer the conversion rate as at the date of the offer, which was December 1, 2011. “Our intial reaction is that we feel a sense of relief and vindication.”
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