Central Bank mum on Clico/BAT portfolio sale

After three bid rounds and several years, a preferred bidder has been identified for the Clico/British American Insurance (Trinidad) Co (BAT) traditional portfolio, and a purchase agreement is to be signed soon.

But, bound by confidentiality agreements, Central Bank governor Alvin Hilaire said he could not say more about who the preferred buyer was, nor the value of the transaction. The bank had taken emergency control of Clico/BAT when the parent conglomerate, CL Financial, approached the State in 2009 for a bailout that eventually cost taxpayers approximately $23 billion.

“Those are confidential matters. We are bound by two laws. First the Central Bank law on confidentiality, and then second, contract law.

"The process is still under way. It has gone to quite an advanced stage but I cannot comment,” Hilaire said when asked about the status of the deal during the question-and-answer session of the launch of the Financial Stability Report today at the Central Bank in Port of Spain.

At a press conference in March, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the two main bidders were Sagicor and Maritime, with the preferred bidder being Sagicor, even though the company’s bid was the lower of the two. The ministry has to approve the sale, but Imbert has said he had to review the decision “to protect the public interest.”

Hilaire said said the ministry is consulting with the bank on the portfolio sale, consistent with existing legislation.