Kamla: Send FATCA to joint select committee

She said FATCA legislation was being rushed through Parliament by a government unwilling to listen or consider amendments intended to protect the interests of the citizens.

She said government’s position was that it had taken on board some of the Opposition’s concerns, but she added these did not sufficiently address concerns raised by the Opposition.

She accused Government of misrepresenting the Opposition’s position, saying this was “politicking in its lowest form.” The Opposition Leader said the Opposition is prepared to pass the FATCA law but will not be bullied into sacrificing the constitutional rights of the people. She added that people have been raising concerns about FATCA legislation with members of the Opposition. “It appears the government MPs are unable to address their minds or contributions to the substantive matter at hand and that is to create legislation which appropriately balances extraordinary access to citizens’ private financial information with US tax evasion concerns.” She said that while the Bankers Association and the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM) may be happy with the bill in its present form, they were not the only stakeholders.

Persad-Bissessar said the legislation would also affect credit unions and insurance companies. She said when Government first brought the bill to the House they told Parliamentarians if the legislation was not passed by September 13, “the country will collapse, the economy will collapse, you cannot send a cheque, you cannot send a wire transfer, you can have no transactions whatsoever relating to the US dollar.” She said this was proven to be a lie because the country did not collapse.