Keep public informed

WARNING THAT THREATS to the region’s financial stability were real, Financial Services Commission chairman Sir Frank Alleyne today urged regional regulators not to leave the public exposed to financial harm by keeping important information from them.
The public has a right to know when regulators take action against entities they supervise and regulators have a duty to inform them “in a timely manner”, he said.
Sir Frank was speaking at Hilton Barbados this morning during the official opening of the Caribbean Association of Insurance Regulators Conference & Annual General Meeting.
The noted economist said he was aware that in some Caribbean jurisdictions “the regulators don’t have the authority to go to the public”, but he asked conference participants to “consider whether this is the wise thing to do in light of the right of the public to know”.
“I would like you to consider the right of the public to be informed in a timely manner when a regulator revokes a licence . . . You know the old adage you can hear [is that] a regulator is seen but seldom heard. . .but in my view no purpose is served when as a regulator you make a decision which orders some licencee to cease and desist from a certain practice but that remains on the shelf,” Sir Frank said. (SC)