Imbert to Opposition: Stop ‘gallerying’

“Please submit them to the Parliament so that we can look at them and we will try to accommodate them as best as we can,” he said yesterday in the House of Representatives.

Imbert’s call was made while in the process of wrapping up the debate on the bill but did not complete the debate.

Government Leader of Business Camille Robinson-Regis interrupted to adjourn the session to Monday at 1.30 pm as Imbert reminded her, “I am not finished yea” and she acknowledged.

Newsday understands Robinson- Regis took the stance to adjourn the session to give the Opposition a chance to make their contribution at Monday’s sitting.

If TT does not become FATCA compliant, sanctions will include the loss of foreign correspondent banking. In his presentation, Imbert said, “We hope the Opposition would stop grandstanding, stop ‘gallerying’, and stop playing the fools with a very serious matter.” He expressed the hope that before the bill goes to the committee stage, Government will get something out of them.

“It is ridiculous for something as serious as this where we are going to lose all our correspondent banking and our financial relationships with the rest of the world that the opposition is just carrying on and they won’t give us written amendments.” It is “highly unfortunate”, he said, that they walked out of the Parliament, describing it as “a stage-managed walk out.” Government wanted to hear what the Opposition proposed amendments were, he said.

“We have tried our best based on the newspaper advertisement and the vague utterance they have made in the newspapers to fashion amendments that capture their complaints, but we don’t know. All we hear is that they coming with amendments,” he said.

Since September 9 or 10, Government has been trying in the Parliament, he said, “to squeeze out of them” their required amendments, but was only getting old talk.

The Opposition while in the last government made a commitment since May 2013 to enact legislation to become FATCA compliant and were now “procrastinating”, Imbert said.

He sought an extension to the deadline and has given a commitment to ensure that the legislation is passed by February 2017, and that the systems and processes to ensure reporting were in place by September 2017.

If TT fails to meet the deadlines, he said, “I daresay, we would not get another extension.”