The shareholders of Colonial Life Insurance Company [Trinidad] Limited (Clico) yesterday appointed a new board of directors for the company.
At the insurance company’s first shareholders’ meeting in more than a decade, Jennifer Frederick was selected as the chair of the board. She was joined by Sandra Kumar-Campbell, Dara Keogh, Delia Joseph and Roger McLean. The five new directors of the insurance company were nominated by the majority shareholder, CL Financial (in liquidation).
Additional directors are to be appointed to Clico’s board by the insurer’s other main shareholder, Corporation Sole (the Minister of Finance), at a subsequent meeting, according to a news release issued by the company following its shareholders’ meeting.
Clico, which was established in 1936, has 2,950,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding and three shareholders, according to the insurance company’s 2022 filing with the Companies Registry:
• ↓CL Financial Ltd (in liquidation)—1,476,171 shares;
• ↓Corporation Sole (Minister of Finance—1,450,000 shares; and
• ↓Trustees of CL Financial Ltd—23,829 shares.
Corporation Sole also owns 4,992,750,000 preference shares in Clico, which Government acquired on September 10, 2009, as part of the $5 billion bailout of the insurance company.
That involved the injection of additional capital into Clico by Government by way of the acquisition of ordinary shares and preference shares.
Some months before the capital infusion into Clico, effective February 13, 2009, the Central Bank assumed control of the company as a result of the exercise of its emergency powers under section 44(D) of the Central Bank Act.
The Central Bank exited control of Clico and its sister company, British American (Trinidad) in December 2022.
Yesterday’s shareholders’ meeting was held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre and was followed by a Zoom meeting with the Clico staff.
The meeting resulted in the first board of directors selected by shareholders since the Central Bank relinquished control in December 2022.
The previous board was chaired by Claire Gomez-Miller and its other directors were Charles De Silva, Martin Franklin, Ulric Miller and Delia Joseph, who is the only director to carry over to the new board.
In a news release yesterday, chairman of the Clico Policyholders Group, Peter Permell, thanked the outgoing board for its service and advised the new board it faced significant headwinds.
This includes the need to settle the residual balance contractually owed by Clico to its 15,000 assenting policyholders, he said.
