Stakeholders briefed on draft moveable property bill

Legal consultant, Tom Johnson (DPI photo)
Legal consultant, Tom Johnson (DPI photo)

Stakeholders in the business sector were yesterday sensitized on the draft moveable property bill during a workshop hosted by the Ministry of Business, at the Marriott Hotel.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded project aims to allow the use of moveable property as collateral when seeking to access finance.

Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin said “A consultant has been engaged to look at the legislation and he is presenting a draft today. Some stakeholders are present, many of whom are lawyers to actually look at the draft and make comments and recommendations on how to improve it; and how to make it more suitable and appropriate for our situation”, he said.

Key business stakeholders at the workshop (DPI photo)

Gaskin added, “this piece of legislation allows persons to borrow using other forms of moveable collateral, such as cars, a fridge, livestock, crops if you’re a farmer and various types of assets. It really broadens the base of assets that can be used to secure loans.”

DPI said that IDB Legal Consultant, Tom Johnson presented the official draft bill to stakeholders of various trade enterprises, professional institutions and members of the commercial deeds registry. Johnson conducted an exploratory mission in Guyana on January 15, 2018.

A breakout session on the draft bill for bank and non-bank financial agencies is expected to be held at the IDB office on April 12.