Manning promises overhaul of finance sector

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has promised a complete overhaul of every financial sub-sector in the country, with emphasis being placed on the improvement of financial reporting standards, the development of a more competitive policy among players in the sector and the enhancement of human resources. Manning said this has become necessary because of the significant number of weaknesses plaguing the legislative, regulatory and supervisory framework of the financial system, which have overshadowed the steps so far made to develop and strengthen the system over the last four decades.

The Prime Minister made this disclosure as he addressed the opening ceremony of the inaugural International Conference on Business, Banking and Finance at the Hilton Trinidad yesterday. The development of the country’s financial system, Manning noted, was integral to Government’s aim to achieve developed nation status by the year 2020, as well as its ambition to position TT as the Pan-Caribbean Financial Centre. However, he asserted, if the challenges of economic development were to be adequately addressed, the deficiencies that currently exist within the financial system needed to be confronted head on. He said: “It has become increasingly challenging to regulate operations within the sector and there is need for the intervention of the State to bring financial sector institutions, processes and operations in line with international standards. The intention is a more efficient, integrated and dynamic sector.” Government, he said, has to date identified several sectors which will play a key role in the transformation of the financial system. They include the banking sector, the capital markets, the insurance sector, the mutual funds industry and the credit union and venture capital sectors. The challenge, however, lay in the fact that, except for the banking sector, the legislative framework for the rest of the industry was weak and outdated.

Where the banking sector was concerned, Government had specific plans to enhance its supervision of the sector, strengthen the enforcement powers of the Central Bank and enforce reporting requirements. Additionally, Manning continued, it had become necessary to upgrade inter-bank systems to provide a more efficient system of payments, clearance and settlement which will allow for a more effective oversight and management of risk. “With respect to all the financial sub-sectors, it has become necessary to strengthen the legal framework governing their operations,” he stated, noting that, “with respect to all the sectors, it is necessary to modernise their operations. “As a small developing state, we have long come to realise that challenge is often both the harbinger and handmaiden of opportunity. And we respond accordingly,” he said.