(CMR) The Premier, Honourable Alden McLaughlin, is calling the Opposition's recent statements regarding Cayman National Corporation reckless and callous.
In a statement issued in response to the Oppositions claim for CNC to re-pay $20 million to the government in light of a pending sale to Trinidad Bank.
The Premier makes it clear he is not in favor of such a move and that the insurance settlement reached between the parties was for “FULL AND FINAL” settlement of the matter and nothing further is owed to Government.
He stated:
“75% of the shareholders in Cayman National Corporation are Caymanians and it is both reckless and callous in the extreme, for the Opposition to seek to damage the company’s reputation and further to insist that its Caymanian Shareholders should pay Government CI$20 million which is not owed, given the final agreed settlement.”
In an interesting twist it appears that the Premier is in full support of the pending stating that it will benefit Caymanians – presumably meaning the shareholders who will be selling their shares.
“These disingenuous statements are part of a growing pattern of false accusations made by the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues. In this instance they appear to be aimed at derailing the sale of the majority of shares in Cayman National Corporation which will principally benefit Caymanians.”
Opposition leader, Honourable Ezzard Miller responded to the Premier's statement by stating that:
“Alden is true to form driven by his loyalty to business. No one in the Opposition said there is any legal obligation by CNB shareholders to pay or donate anything to the Government or the people of Cayman from their windfall on profits from the sale of their company that may not be in existence today if the country had not saved them after Ivan.
The country had no legal obligation to save them only a moral and ethical reason because so many Caymanians would have lost so much.
What the Opposition is appealing to is the shareholders moral, ethical and a sense of corporate responsibility and appreciation for what the country did for them after Ivan. Our concerns also include what will happen to staff when there is no or reduced Caymanian ownership one only has to reference Royal Bank, Scotia Bank and all the other foreign banks and see how many Caymanian managers they have employed.”
He also stated:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid