A VERY PUBLIC CORPORATE ROW that started in Trinidad and Tobago between two of that country’s biggest companies has now spilled over into Barbados.
Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), which owns the Arawak Cement Plant in St Lucy, has been unable to hold its annual general meeting because of a court injunction filed by one of its investors, Wilfred Espinet.
But now, TCL, which has been under severe financial stress, is accusing its banker – Republic Bank Limited – of being the mastermind behind the action because the bank wants to influence some of the company’s corporate decisions and “manoeuvre to assume control of the TCL board”.
What’s more, TCL says, the man who heads Republic Bank Barbados Ian De Souza, played a “central role” in organizing a proposal that would have tried to install five new nominees to TCL’s nine-member board of directors.
When contacted yesterday, De Souza told the DAILY NATION he could not respond to questions on the issue as the Republic Bank Group headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago had taken a position that it would not comment.
