BUCHANAN and JACKSON
Earl Moxam,
Staff Reporter
THE PROSPECT of trustees of pension funds serving jail time for not being registered to perform that role has set off alarm bells within the ranks of the pension management sector.
Some members of the Government, on the other hand, have signalled their desire to see some offenders "wear short pants" (a term associated with prison inmates), depending on the circumstances.
Representatives of the sector on Thursday took their concern to the Select Committee of Parliament considering the Pensions (Superannuation Funds and Retirement Schemes) Act.
Section 43 (2) of the Bill before the Committee states that anyone performing the duty of a trustee without being registered under this Act "commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding $3 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years."
REGISTER
Errol McKenzie, representing the Life Insurance Companies Association (LICA), argued strenuously that it was not equitable for trustees, who in many instances, may have unintentionally failed to register, to serve jail time for this breach.
Fitz Jackson, chairman of the committee, was not in sympathy, asserting that he, like many other members of Parliament, were concerned that "quite too often white-collar crimes are not adequately punished."
"When you look at the injury caused by some white-collar crimes and the injury cause by a man who steals some banana or yam and end up getting six months in jail and compare it to white-collar crimes that defraud people of millions of dollars those people are not given even a fraction of what much smaller offenders receive," he asserted.
Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan, was equally assertive, declaring:
"Anybody who acts in the capacity of a trustee without being a trustee should pay the maximum penalty!"
Joan George, representing LICA, contended, however, that the Committee members were barking up the wrong tree.
"We have no problem with white-collar criminals being punished to the full extent of the law; that's not our argument we're talking about statutory deficiencies or a failure to return something (certificate of registration) in time. So there is an inconsistency in the harshness of the penalties", she argued.
Mark Golding, representing the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), in support of the "inconsistency" argument, pointed out that the professionals (investment managers, administrators and others) targeted in sub-section 1 of the same section 43 were not liable to a jail term.
This contradiction, he argued, was not fair to the trustees "who may not be aware of this bill; they haven't ripped off anybody, they haven't stolen any money; they haven't done anything which the average man on the street would say is immoral or illegal."
Mr. Jackson said he was willing to consider the matter, in light of the inconsistencies highlighted.
JAIL TERM
Brian Wynter, head of the Financial Services Commission, which will police the legislation, did not appear so willing to relent on the matter, however, arguing that there would be appropriate circumstances in which jail terms may be appropriate.
"You have to have appropriate sanctions to deal with serial offenders, or it may be that a particular breach, which appears minor, turns out to be a breach that has major consequences," he argued. Accordingly, he pressed the case for the court to have the power of discretion in the matter.
Mr. Jackson promised that the Committee would carefully consider the matter before deciding what recommendation to make to the House of Representatives.
