CL Financial (CLF) shareholders have agreed to extend the company's Shareholder Agreement with the Government for the next six months. The continuing agreement formed part of the motions that were ratified yesterday afternoon during the company's annual general meeting, which was held at the Clico corporate box at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain.
However, the T&T Guardian understands that yesterday's vote was merely a formality since the formal agreement was signed by the the Government and United Shareholders' Ltd, a company comprising CL Financial shareholders, which was mandated at a meeting last month to negotiate agreements on behalf of all shareholders.
The shareholders' agreement which formed part of Government's bailout plan for the cash-strapped conglomerate was initially signed on June 12, 2009 and states that four members of the seven-member board would be chosen by the Government.
That agreement gave added strength to the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between the parties signalling the start of the bailout in January 2009. Only about 15 shareholders were present during yesterday's 10 minute meeting with approximately 60 per cent of shareholders opting to cast their votes via proxy, sources said.
The second issue that was voted on by the shareholders yesterday was the re-election of the company's board of directors. During a vote on the issue, three directors chosen by the shareholders and four Government-appointed directors were elected by the shareholders.
Of the seven directors, the only one present was shareholder director Stephen Castagne, who also served as the chairman of yesterday's meeting. The Guardian was reliably informed that several of the other directors decided not to attend while others were in Jamaica where they attended the 50 th anniversary celebrations of CL Financial subsidiary Lascelles de Mercado (parent company of Appleton Rum).
The re-elected board members include Government- appointed directors- Gerald Yetming (chairman), Philip Marshall, Joseph Teixeira and Adanna Toney. Besides Castagne, British Queen's Counsel Andrew Mitchell and Robert Ramchand were also elected as directors.
The T&T Guardian was told that Government's claim against CL Financial for sums that the State invested in the bailout plan had not been delivered to the board prior to the meeting as was anticipated. The total preliminary claim is said to be between $10 and 20 billion.
