‘Gov’t must act now!’
Saying that they were gravely concerned about the safety of the life savings of Jamaicans, two of the leading private sector organisations have issued a joint statement urging the Government to address the uncertainty surrounding the operation of alternative investment schemes.
The umbrella Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) yesterday said the Bruce Golding-led Government should act “quickly and decisively” to ensure compliance with the law by the alternative investment schemes.
Both groupings also appealed to owners and operators of those schemes to immediately provide verifiable information of their assets and finances so that investors could be assured of the safety of their money.
Several entities, loosely called alternative investment schemes, have emerged in recent years, offering high levels of interest rates – in some cases upwards of 10 per cent per month. Large numbers of Jamaicans have been placing their money into the schemes which promise an easy way out of financial problems.
But critics have pointed to the refusal of the operators to provide vital information about their operations, that could ease concerns about the sustainability of the entities and the safety of the money invested.
The alternative investment schemes have hit back that traditional financial institutions were getting back at them because they were losing customers.
Following is the full text of the PSOJ/JCC statement:
“The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) are expressing grave concern about the current controversy with alternative investment schemes and, by extension, the safety of these investments, many of which represent the life savings of investors.
“We urge would-be investors in these schemes to carefully consider where they are placing their hard-earned funds and to seriously evaluate the advice of the Government, regulators and commentators regarding the ability of these schemes to generate the returns that have been claimed, on a sustained basis.
“As this issue has not been adequately addressed by the previous administration, it is now imperative that the current Government of Jamaica act quickly and decisively to ensure that these entities are operating within the laws of Jamaica, and we urge them to do so. We also urge all investors to demand transparency from the operators of these schemes, by requesting their audited financial statements so that investors may have full information about the underlying viability of these schemes.
“Additionally, we call on the owners and operators of all alternative investment schemes to immediately provide verifiable information of their assets and finances so that investors can be assured of the safety of their money.
“Word of mouth is simply not good enough when the life savings of people are at stake.
“It is unfortunate that the public has not been able to evaluate all the facts in this controversy because of the absence of verifiable financial information.
“The PSOJ and the JCC will continue our efforts to engage the Government and the regulators to ensure that any potential harmful effects to the economy are mitigated. It is in the best interest of all Jamaicans for this controversy to be speedily resolved.”