The Bank of Guyana (BoG) is to decide whether to extend the deadline for a third time for a South American company to provide the required documentation in its bid to control the troubled Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited (GTICL); or to move ahead with its liquidation.
On February 27, former GTICL administrator Conrad Plummer, during a press briefing at its Middle Street office, told the media that the lone interested investor had asked for an extension of the February 15 deadline to submit its application to Acquire Control of a Financial Institution, and this extension was approved. However, the investor is now seeking an extension for this month. The February extension followed two missed deadlines on November 30, 2007 and January 24, 2008.
Plummer, whose contract ended on February 29, said the investor had advised by email that his banking consultant, while travelling from New York, had suffered some mishaps along the way and he would advise on arrival dates later. On February 22, the investor rang and on February 25, confirmed that call by letter, requesting a further extension as he expected that his banking consultant would be in a position to travel before the first two weeks in March, Plummer read from a prepared statement.
The former administrator said that since he was not authorised to refuse this request, it was forwarded to the BoG for a response. Plummer noted that the next step will depend on the answer to the investor’s request. Nizam Ali & Co. is now the new administrator of GTICL.
If the extension is granted and adhered to by the investor and further agreement is reached then the administrator will see the transaction through – which will include an application to the courts to modify the existing approved plan under Section 51 of the Financial Institution Act (FIA). However, if no further extensions are granted then the BoG will need to apply to the court again under Section 51 of the FIA to have a liquidator appointed.
Asked why he had not sought legal redress against at least one organisation or the former management and directors of GTICL, Plummer said: “I did not believe and I still do not believe that taking that organisation and those individuals to court would have helped with the re-organisation. No investor would have wanted to become involved in a company, which was engaged in that type of litigation. Besides also, if the re-organisation plan promised a full or partial repayment to the depositors, what amounts were you to sue for?” He said that this option may still be open to the liquidator if he so desires.
Asked if his exit would have an impact on the continued re-organisation of the Trust, he said, “It should not. There should be a hand-over process which will fully brief the next administrator and the investment from the investor’s point of view is an economic one not
