Jun 2014 Financial News

Forging ahead at First Citizens. New chairman Smart gets to work

Jun 29, 2014

Anthony Isidore Smart SC sits easily in his executive’s chair. It is an ease born of confidence that comes from long years of experience. “I bring my grey hair to the table,” he joked during an interview with the Sunday Business Guardian this week. The former government minister, Member of Parliament and Attorney General emerged as the top pick for the position of First Citizens Bank chairman after weeks of speculation. He comes to the post at an interesting time:

On May 12 at the bank’s annual meeting, the Government dismissed two directors and forced the resignation of two more as the bank tries to lay the IPO (Initial Public Offering) scandal to rest. Two other directors resigned just before the June 17 extraordinary general meeting that was requisitioned by the Minister of Finance to add six new directors, including Smart.

And there is more negative fallout possible as there have been published reports of disciplinary action against senior officers and veiled threats that those officers could sue the bank. Questions have also been raised about the purchase of over 400,000 shares by a relative of an existing director at the IPO.

In the face of all of this, the 68-year-old lawyer does not seem to be worried. “What I bring to the table is many years of experience. That is what I bring. An ability to be discerning, as well as experience in working with people, dealing with people and leading people. I have always taken a leading role.”

Smart is no stranger to pressure. In what he considers to be the highlight achievement of his long career straddling both law and politics, he was Attorney General in the Cabinet of then Prime Minister, Arthur NR Robinson when insurgents from the Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed the Parliament.

“My greatest contribution to the country was during the attempted coup. The management of that period, from the afternoon of the 27th, right through to a couple of months later on and particularly for the five days. That has gone unnoticed, but it is not a problem. I think that, managing the situation to make sure that there was no further loss of life, that we were able to restore the democracy of this country. It was under serious threat.”

What brought him to that point was a desire to serve his country. As a young lawyer working at his family’s firm, Smart was dissatisfied with the state of the country. The year was 1979.

“I found the country wasn’t going well. Honestly. I remember I saying for a country with a million people and all the wealth—this was in the early and mid-70’s—telephones weren’t working, we weren’t getting water and the roads were in mess. I became concerned and got involved by the end of the 70’s with the formation of the ONR, with Karl Hudson-Phillips as leader.”

He was offered a salary of $4,000 when he became the organisation’s first general secretary, but turned it down and took the year off from the law firm between 1980 and 1981 to focus on the election battle with the PNM. Smart was not discouraged by the ONR’s loss. As the 1986 elections approached, he decided to offer himself up for the Diego Martin East seat, this time on an NAR ticket. The rest, as is said, was history.

When asked how he felt about the state of T&T today, Smart said he had taken off his political hat and, as First Citizens chairman, intended to leave it off, unless politics touched the bank directly. “To tell you the truth, I had moved away from involvement in politics since 2001. I have deliberately stayed away from commenting on such, except for a short period in 2010 when I supported the People’s Partnership. But after the elections, I remained silent.”

Chairman of the board:

Regarding his new position itself, Smart saw himself playing a low-key role. He told the Sunday BG that he was only just “getting into the reading” and there would be some time before he could definitively talk about bank’s direction with him at the helm. However, he gave a few clues.

“I am fairly clear in my mind that the board led by me, would not be an executive board but we would be there for policy and strategy. I think the bank is equipped with extremely good managers based on what I have read and what I have experienced over the last few days that I have been here and we will leave the managers to manage and we will lead in so far as policy is concerned.”

This policy will be focused on “growing the bank” and “increasing its relevance to the economy”, with some “tweaking along the way,” Smart said, to keep the bank along the largely positive path it has been proceeding along. “The bank has been doing exceptionally well since its birth.” He also told the Sunday BG, he does not plan to approach the chairmanship as a “full-time job.” “I expect we will perform the functions of a board, which is to meet on a regular basis: once a month with short meetings in between.”

Smart, and the newly constituted First Citizens board, met for the first time last week. However, based on indications given by the new chairman, it did not seem likely that the Chanka Seeterram share purchase and the findings of an internal report recommending that disciplinary action be taken against three senior officers were discussed. “The newly constituted board has not yet seen the two matters you mentioned and, as such, cannot comment on them at this time.”

The Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 coup attempt:

Smart was more vocal on another controversial matter, however. As a main player in the events of 1990, he felt it was good there was now some official record of what happened in those five tumultuous days.

“I think it was very important to have a historical document of what actually transpired during that period. There were all kinds of misinformation that came out before, during and shortly after the attempted coup. Years down the line, we will be able to see various people’s recollections of what happened and I think there are recommendations that are worthwhile to pursue.”

He said it was also important to have a record for posterity, particularly since some people had written “hurriedly, prematurely and, in some cases, incorrectly.” “I think people will have to write... I think research has to be done and historians have to document what happened. So that younger people will know what happened, the threat that this country was under and how the country survived that threat.”

Family man and passion for the law

Smart told the Sunday BG that his best achievements have not all been in the public arena. “I also feel I have been a good parent, along with my wife. That is important.” His own parents have had considerable influence over the course of his life. Smart described his father, the recently deceased Isidore Smart as a “magician”, who was somehow able to provide a tertiary education for 12 children. The former attorney general spoke of the family firm Gittens, Smart & Co, where he is senior partner with pride.

The practice, he said, goes back to the 30s under various names and has all of its original records intact. Smart said his passion for the law is drawn from a “family tradition” as both his father and grandfather were involved in the profession at various levels.


Source:
NATALIE BRIGGS
Trinidad Guardian
Sunday June 29, 2014

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2014-06-29/forging-ahead-first-citizens