The Financial Services Commission (FSC), obviously emboldened by the Supreme Court's ruling in the Olint case, has finally issued a cease-and-desist order on the so-calle investment scheme, Cash Plus, after months of wrangling.

So, at the very least, Cash Plus - which the FSC fears may be insolvent - is unable to accept new deposits. Should anyone, therefore, be at risk of losing money, it would be those who already have deposits in the scheme, with the promise of extraordinarily high returns.

Based on an opaque financial statement recently published by Cash Plus, covering the period up to last September, the company had a deposit liability of $16 billion and interest obligations for the next three years of $22 billion. The company says it wants to convert the debt it does not say precisely which one or what portion, into preference shares.

The FSC is obviously sceptical that Cash Plus has the underlying assets either to meet its obligations or carry through this reorganisation. What is not clear, though, is what plan either the FSC or the Finance Ministry has for Cash Plus or similar institutions.

The Government and, in particular, the Finance Minister, Audley Shaw, have remained silent on the issue, even as panic grows among people worried about the safety of their cash. It is time to hear a definitive strategy from Mr. Shaw.

The Government should be aware that a disorderly collapse of Cash Plus, and other schemes, however constructed, will undermine investor and consumer confidence and the prospect for growth.