No easy fix

CASTRIES, St Lucia – Governments of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) today said there were no easy solutions to dealing with the crisis brought about by the financial problems of the Trinidad and Tobago-based regional conglomerate CL Financial Group.
The governments said the situation facing the Group’s flagship companies -Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) and the British American Insurance Company (BAICO) –was not an easy matter to be dealt with.
The governments said they wished to “express our appreciation for the patience and calm with which policyholders have responded to the very painful and personal challenges arising out of BAICO and CLICO issues. 
“We wish that these matters were simpler, and that solutions could have been put in place faster.  However, our experience in such a difficult and complex situation is not unique in this regard,” they said in a statement updating the various stakeholders on the matter.
They said they now anticipate that the next phase of the rescue plan “will take time, and that we will encounter obstacles, but we will continue to work tirelessly to overcome them”.
They said that efforts to establish a new insurance company hit a snag following the change of government in Trinidad and Tobago last year.
They said the new company would have brought together several investors including Trinidad and Tobago which would have invested US$100 million and five million US dollars from Barbados.
The OECS countries would also have contributed financially to the new initiative. (CMC)