The Editor, Sir:

In general, people are feeling that the move by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the stance taken by the two leading banks National Commercial Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia are unreasonable and unnecessary. People are saying that if the Bank of Jamaica took a negative view of the transaction passing through the commercial banks and had initiated the closing of th investment accounts, the appearance of envy (red eye) and vindictiveness would not be so glaring.

It is widely believed that there is some measure of vindictiveness, because long-standing customers of the traditional banks were moving large sums of savings and investment portfolios out, to place them with these new 'investment schemes'.

We are again in a dilemma. The Government cannot afford another FINSAC. The people, on the other hand, are, in general, convinced that their monies placed in the traditional banks were being used to further enrich those in the know and the 'money class', while they picked up the scraps, and still pay taxes and bank charges on the meagre savings interest they got.

Citizens with questions

This is not a situation going away, because it is going to leave the average citizen with lots of questions to be answered. For instance, why could thes investment groups offer these returns with so few members or 'customers', while the traditional banks show the large profits at the end of each year with pauperised customers. Even the usually quiet church groups, on social and moral issues, came in on this issue on the side of the new investment groups.

What I am really glad about in the circumstance, is that this issue did not take on a political dimension. That would completely unsettle the apple cart. It seems that the FSC, an agency formed after the FINSAC debacle by Dr. Davies to safeguard the investing and depositing customers of financial institutions, has prevented the matter from being seen as political or governmental incompetence.

This, however, still requires an intervention of sorts by the Government. This is my own view, that the good of the people is the good of the nation. The people saw another way to achieve prosperity and that must be one of the purposes of government. I believe if a breach is identified, a chance should be given to the investors in breach, to correct it, so that the deposits or loans to these institutions by the people are preserved. After the criminal lotto scheme in Montego Bay some time ago, this country can ill-afford the image and reputation of being a financial and investment 'tricksters heaven'.

We need to encourage imaginative financial investors and investments. This is possibly the next leg the economy can stand on, in addition to tourism, bauxite, remittances and agriculture, as the latter may not be viable in the long term and bauxite is a wasting asset. To avail ourselves of the other opportunities in step with the direction the world is heading, we need a cultural transformation.

I am, etc.,

IRVIN C. WADE

ircivwade@hotmail.com

Via Go-Jamaica