Ramcharan Kalicharan

Caribbean Money Market Brokers (CMMB) has ceased to take deposits from clients for their money market accounts (MMAs) as of yesterday. In a letter dated September 30 to its clients, a joint statement from Ramcharan Kalicharan, chief executive officer of CMMB, and Brent Salvary, general manager of its securities and asset management department, stated that CMMB decided to discontinue its TT and US dollar and euro MMAs to avoid duplication of product offerings after it became a member of the First Citizens Group in May 2009.

CMMB was a subsidiary of the CL Financial Group, which the government agreed to bail out in January 2009, leading to State-owned First Citizens acquiring the brokerage house in May. Attempts to contact both Kalicharan and Salvary were unsuccessful. The Guardian was told that Kalicharan was out of the country for the week and that Salvary was engaged in a lengthy conference call. One CMMB official said its MMA clients were being urged to transfer the balances in their MMAs to either a fixed income paper (FIP) investment or a managed account. It was also pointed out that all investments for equity purchases and FIP investments would be placed in a non-interest bearing account and then transferred to another relevant financial product or service.

According to the CMMB official, what was described as “preferential rates” was being offered to the brokerage firm’s MMA clients, who transferred their balances to an FIP investment. It was pointed out that the rates stood at 0.5 per cent and 0.25 per cent higher than CMMB’s regular TT and US dollar rates, respectively. CMMB MMA clients were also being advised to contact the human resource departments at their banks and credit unions to stop standing order payments. It was noted that CMMB’s money market account would continue to accrue returns until January 29, 2010, before being converted to an account with a return of zero per cent or a non-interest bearing account.

Fixed income paper investments
An fixed income paper (FIP) is an investment with a fixed term (90, 180 or 365 days), which is secured by a debt instrument such as corporate or government bonds, and has a fixed rate of return. Upon maturity, the investor has the option of re-investing or withdrawing the amount due. All funds invested in an FIP are fully backed against a debt instrument (ie, government and corporate bonds.) The riskiness of the investment depends on the underlying asset backing the FIP. CMMB’s FIPs are backed by sovereign and corporate bonds.