Gov’t Allocates Funds to Complete FINSAC Report

Cabinet has approved the reappointment of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) Commissioners, paving the way for the completion of the report from the Commission of Enquiry, which looked at the collapse of several financial institutions in the 1990s.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said an allocation of $35.7 million has been made in the Supplementary Estimates, now before the House of Representatives, to undertake the task.

He said the Commissioners will have seven months to complete the report, so that the country can learn from the appropriate recommendations.

“We are resolute that the report must be written, because some people have lost their lives, (and) people have lost their livelihood,” he said, contending that the events of the 1990s have “set back the entrepreneurial propensity of this country by, maybe, more than a generation”.

He said there will be no further testimonies, as persons had given enough accounts to the Commission.

The FINSAC Commission of Enquiry was set up in 2008, with the first sittings held in 2009.

In addition to looking into the financial meltdown, the terms of reference included considering the appropriateness of the actions taken; reviewing the operations of FINSAC in relation to delinquent borrowers, and making recommendations on how to prevent a recurrence.

The Minister, who was addressing the Mayberry Investor Forum held on Wednesday (January 18) at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston, said clarity on the FINSAC issue is critical.

“We have a public duty to ensure that that report is written,” he added, noting that all the documents to compile the report are in one place.