As your readers may have gleaned, my focus is usually directed towards issues impacting the rights of minority shareholders. However, on this occasion, I have chosen to digress somewhat for several reasons. Firstly, there is the unfolding Clico/CL Financial debacle along with the lingering perception in several quarters that the Central Bank (CB)–in its regulatory and supervisory capacities–could have done more to look after the interests of the depositors, annuitants and policyholders.
Secondly, there are the media reports emanating from the Sir Allan Stanford US federal indictment that criminal charges have also been brought against a former Antiguan bank regulator who prosecutors say should have caught the fraud but, instead, took bribes to let the scheme continue. Thirdly, there is the worrisome revelation in the just-concluded Textel Pension Fund court matter that nine beneficiaries of the plan had died over the years awaiting the determination of the case, while several others had become gravely ill. Last, but by no means least, there is the disclosure by the CB earlier this week that in 2008, "85 pension plans failed to file their statutory statements on time."
Accordingly, you will no doubt appreciate my anxiety on learning that more than 50 registered pension funds in T&T are still being wound up, even though their sponsor companies have either ceased to exist or come into new ownership, in some instances, decades ago.
A complete list of the funds can be found in the 2007 CB Report on Insurance and Pensions for the year ended December 31, 2006, published on its Web site and reproduced here for ease of reference. Some of the obvious examples include, but are not limited to, the pension funds of companies such as Rediffusion, FW Woolworth and Stephens and Ross, etc.
While this is not necessarily cause for alarm due to the inherent delays associated with the wind up process (ie, locating beneficiaries, etc) even the most charitable among us would agree that there is cause for concern. This is so, particularly, in circumstances where at least one of the pension funds identified as the Reinsurance Company of T&T (Trinre) Pension Fund Plan was wound up and the monies distributed since 2004. Yet this plan still appears on the list in 2007. Evidence of the plan being wound up can be found in the its 2004 Final Audited Financial Statements, where at Note 6 it clearly states that, "as at August 31, 2004, the plan's fund value is nil" and that "these financial statements are the last set of accounts to be prepared for the plan."
My research reveals that this information only came to the attention of CB three years later in 2007 as a result of a formal complaint lodged against First Citizens Trust and Asset Management Ltd, the trustees of the plan, alleging non-compliance with the Insurance Act and failure to pay the requisite pension benefits in accordance with the plan's actuarial report. At this juncture, it is important to point out that the effective winding up date was December 31, 1996. However, before the plan was wound-up, Trinre came under new ownership in 1998. The new owners did not believe that the instructions to wind-up the plan were issued with the proper authoritym and on May 6, 1999, the company requested that the trustees desist from winding-up the plan.
On September 9, 1999, an injunction was granted restraining the trustees and Clico, the insurer of the plan, from distributing any funds beyond normal pension payments or letters of entitlement to beneficiaries of the plan. The legal matter was eventually dismissed by way of a notice of the court dated November 28, 2003. There is a lot more that could be said here. However, in deference to the CB, I have studiously resisted any such temptation to so do–at least for the time being–and instead call on the Governor of the Central Bank, Ewart Williams and the Inspector of Financial Institutions, Carl Hiralal, to urgently look into this matter.
2007 Central Bank Report on Insurance and Pensions Winding-up Pension Fund Plans
1. Aviation Services T&T Ltd Pension Fund Plan
2. Associated Battery and Metal Industries Trinidad Ltd Pension Fund Plan
3. BH Rose Ltd Pension Fund Plan
4. Bottlers Ltd Pension Fund Plan
5. British Airways Staff Pension Plan
6. C Lloyd Trestrail & Company Ltd Pension Plan
7. Cliffs and Associates Ltd Pension Plan
8. CTC Electronics Ltd Pension Plan
9. Caroni (1975) Ltd Employees Pension Plan
10. Caroni (1975) Ltd Daily Paid Employees Contributory Pension Plan
11. Caroni (1967) Ltd Pension Plan
12. Colgate Palmolive (Caribbean) Inc Pension Fund Plan
13. Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Ltd Agents Pension Plan
14. Corbin Compton Ltd Staff Pension Plan
15. Crown Life Caribbean Ltd Employees Pension Fund Plan
16. Employers Consultative Association Pension Fund Plan
17. Electrotec Services Ltd Pension Fund Plan
18. FW Woolworth Ltd Pension Fund Plan
19. George Wimpey Caribbean Ltd Pension Plan
20. General Building and Loan Association Staff Pension Fund Plan
21. Goellnicht and Stollmeyer (Marketing) Ltd Pension Fund Plan
22. Gordon Grant Staff Pension Plan
23. Guardian Life of the Caribbean Ltd Pension Fund Plan
24. Industrial Development Corporation Pension Plan
25. Insurance Consultants Ltd (Antilles Insurance Ltd)
26. International Loss Adjusters Ltd Pension Plan
27. KLM (T&T) Pension Fund Plan
28. Label House Ltd Staff Pension Plan
29. Metal Industries Company Pension Plan
30. National Broadcasting Services of T&T Pension Fund Plan
31. Nationwide Staff "A" Pension Plan
32. Nationwide Staff "B" Pension Plan
33. Nationwide Staff "C" Pension Plan
34. Orange Grove National Company Ltd Pension Fund Plan
35. Premier Consolidated Oilfields Ltd Pension Plan
36. Rediffusion (Trinidad) Ltd Pension Plan
37. Reinsurance Company of T&T Ltd Pension Fund Plan
38. Santana Services Ltd Pension Fund Plan
39. Sissons Paints Ltd Staff Pension Fund Plan
40. Smith International Inc Pension Fund Plan
41. Stephen and Ross Ltd Pension Fund Plan
42. Super Chem Pension Fund Plan
43. Sherwin Williams (Caribbean) NV Pension Plan
44. The National Commercial Bank of T&T Pension Plan
45. The Shipping Corporation of T&T Ltd Pension Fund Plan
46. Trinidad Broadcasting Company Ltd Pension Fund Plan
47. T&T Oil Company Ltd Provident Fund
48 T&T Television Company Ltd Pension Fund Plan
49. Trinidad Shipping Company Ltd Pension Fund Plan
50. Trinidad Textile Manufacturing Company Ltd Pension Fund Plan
51. T&T Export Development Corporation Pension Fund Plan
52. T&T Printing and Packaging Company Pension Fund
53. Van Leer Containers Trinidad Ltd Pension Fund Plan
54. Victoria Nursing Home Pension Fund Plan
55. Workers Bank of T&T Ltd Pension Fund Plan
Peter Permell
ppermell@yahoo.com