In light of new evidence coming to hand via my old and faithful mailbox, along with the several bits of information already in the public domain, namely:
�2 In September 2013, then First Citizens Bank (FCB) chief risk officer Hassan Philip Rahaman purchased 659,588 shares at a cost of about $14.5 million during the bank's heavily oversubscribed initial public offering. On January 14, 2014 he sold 634,588 of the said shares for an undisclosed profit estimated at circa $12 million.
�2 Bourse Securities was selected by the erstwhile former chief risk officer as his broker of choice to process his IPO application instead of his bank's own brokerage firm First Citizens Brokerage and Advisory Services.
�2 On February 14, 2014, Finance Minister Larry Howai announced for the first time that he had ordered a forensic audit into the entire IPO, based on the concerns that were being expressed in the public domain regarding the shares. However, no one from either FCB or the TTSE came forward to let the Minister and the public know that the shares were already sold.
�2 It was only on March 12, some two months after the sale was consummated, that the sale was publicly disclosed by FCB and the T&T Stock Exchange (TTSE), contrary to its own rules and the Securities Act 2012 which require timely disclosure within five business days of such transactions.
�2 To date neither FCB, the TTSE nor its chairman has sought to clarify or explain this very serious breach.
I am of the view that the charades have gone on for far too long and it is high time that the public knows the truth.
Accordingly, I am calling on Independent Senator Subhas Ramkhelawan in his capacity as the managing director of Bourse Securities and chairman of the TTSE to immediately issue a public statement, declaring his interest and that of his company in this matter and to state whether or not he or his company has benefited or stands to benefit in any way from same.
I am also calling on Mr Imtiaz Rahaman, chairman of Bourse Securities, first cousin of Mr Hassan Philip Rahaman, to do likewise. It should be noted that in the event that the appropriate response is not forthcoming, one can look forward to a press conference very shortly.
Peter Permell
Minority shareholder
rights advocate