May 2016 Financial News

Balgobin new chairman of CLF

May 16, 2016

T&T Manufacturers Association (TTMA) president Rolph Balgobin is the new chairman of the CL Financial group, the financially troubled conglomerate that received a multi-billion-dollar state bailout seven years ago.

Balgobin, along with Ingrid Lashley, Anthony Hosang and Terrence Bharath, are the four government nominees to the seven-member CL Financial board.

Balgobin serves on the Massy Holdings board as well as on the Economic Development Advisory Board.

The four were appointed a month ago, but did not get down to work before this week, as a result of concerns expressed by the shareholders’ representatives on the CL Financial board.

The shareholder directors wanted clarification of certain statements pertaining to the sale of the group’s assets made by Finance Minister Colm Imbert during his mid-year budget review on April 8.

In accordance with the June 2009 shareholders’ agreement between the Government and CL Financial, the four government directors are joined by three representing the interests of the shareholders of the group.

The three shareholders’ representatives on the CL Financial board are Port-of-Spain attorney Fredrick Gilkes, Trevor Marshall and Albert Tom Yew.

The one-month delay in operationalising the appointments of the four government directors meant that Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Maurice Suite, resigned as the chairman of Angostura Holdings Ltd effective April 11.

It was expected that one of the four government appointees on the CL Financial board would have replaced Suite as the chairman of Angostura, which is a publicly listed company that is majority owned by the CL Financial group.

Up to late yesterday, there was no official announcement of a new Angostura chairman.

Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Saturday May 14, 2016

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2016-05-14/balgobin-new-chairman-clf