NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Prime Minister Philip Davis confirmed yesterday that the government has committed no further allocations to compensate CLICO victims, given the $110.827 million settlement offered by the liquidators for the insurer’s Trinidad-based parent company, CL Financial.
Prime Minister Davis also noted that the government may also seek to recoup some payments it has already made from that settlement.
During the budget debate wrap-up, Opposition Leader Michael Pintard questioned the absence of an allocation in the 2024/2025 budget, which contrasts with the $3.8 million allocated in the previous fiscal year.
Prime Minister Philip Davis responded, “The liquidators for CLICO have reached a settlement with the Government of Trinidad or the entity controlling CLICO’s assets in Trinidad. This settlement will benefit the funds here, ensuring we can discharge CLICO’s responsibilities to our customers. In fact, we might see how we can recoup some of the advances we made to assist those affected. The Ministry of Finance and our technical team are meeting with the liquidator to resolve this and ensure the funds are secure. There’s no need for further allocation. It seems significant progress has been made in Trinidad to resolve all related issues, benefiting policyholders here in The Bahamas.”
He further clarified, “We do not intend to trouble the policyholders; we want to make them whole. We stepped in to help, and that’s what we did. If we’re able to retrieve some of the taxpayer’s money, it would be a windfall for us.”
Last year, CLICO (Bahamas) liquidator Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez was authorized by Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder to accept a $110.827 million settlement, potentially fully repaying all debts owed to policyholders, creditors, and the government. This sum represents a settlement of CLICO (Bahamas)’ claim against its Trinidadian parent, CL Financial, which is being wound up in Trinidad’s courts. CL Financial had guaranteed $58 million, or 79.5 percent, of the funds advanced by its Bahamian subsidiary to another group entity, CLICO Enterprises, which subsequently defaulted on loan repayments.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of CLICO policyholders, stand to benefit if this payment materializes.
Despite findings that CLICO (Bahamas) violated Bahamian exchange control laws and other regulations with its investments in the Wellington Preserve real estate project in Florida, no one has been held accountable for the corporate failure that impacted the domestic economy and many lower and middle-income earners. At the time of its collapse, CLICO had approximately 38,618 individual and group policies with annual premiums totaling $14.8 million.
