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Dear Sir:

“Opposition Leader the Hon. Arhnim Eustace is calling on the government or the financial authority in St Vincent and the Grenadines to act quickly, make a public pronouncement, to immediately allay the fears of the Vincentian public that was triggered by what he considers an irresponsible statement made by Luke Browne, condemning the St Vincent Building and Loan Association.” Read more here

“UK Financial Services Authority issues alert over Harlequin Property”

“Financial Services Authority issues alert over Harlequin Property”

Remember I wrote this on the I-Witness News
"What is Browne doing, is he a government spokesman, does Gonsalves confide government business in him before he confides in the parliament and the opposition."

Remember I wrote this on vincikallaloo
"Ralph said he was brightest of the bunch, tells you what total idiots the rest are".

“Rhodes Scholar Luke Brown is suing or is about to sue The University of the West Indies. According to the Searchlight, Browne will challenge the fact that he has been awarded his degree with Upper second class honours instead of the first class honours he expected.” Read more here

Harlequin is a type of clown

[When you have read from all the above sites, come back to Caribbean News Now. it’s the finest and the Caribbean’s best service for news. Always make it your first choice.]

The SVG FSA is there as a safety net, so that when these financial companies and associations go wrong and start to collapse, the Vincentian people are protected. They can step in and take control to preserve assets etc. Let’s just hope that the proper financial guarantees are in place, that they are there and paid up, to pay investors something if the Building and Loan Association is liquidated.

The proper guarantees were not in place for British American; the proper supervision failed. That was a government failing and they should be responsible for the BA losses.

What we need to know is if BA directors paid donations to the ULP, and how much. Because that could be construed as a bribe to turn an eye elsewhere while they ripped our citizens off.

I believe, let’s hope I am wrong, that the whole affair was handled by Browne on the instruction of Gonsalves, to take our eye off what is happening to Harlequin in the UK, that was big UK and international news breaking at the same time as all this Building and Loan matter was published in a letter from Luke Brown to the Vincentian news paper.

I find it hard to believe that Luke Browne would do anything without the clear instruction of Ralph Gonsalves. Gonsalves would likely kick his bum up and down Bay Street, remember this boy is his protégé.

According to UK newspaper reports, thousands of people who invested in a British -based company Harlequin Resorts, Caribbean luxury resort would have no access to official UK compensation if the scheme collapsed.

The Financial Services Authority, the UK finance watchdog, has issued an official “alert” concerning Harlequin Property, based in Honywood Road, Basildon, Essex UK, which has taken an estimated £300million in deposits on the properties.

Many invested their retirement pensions and others re-mortgaged their UK homes to pay deposits.

According to the Essex newspaper, the Echo, "Since last April, the Echo has revealed the firm has sold at least 6,000 holiday rooms across seven resorts but only built about 300 at one of them ". [Buccament]

The UK Financial Services Authority has taken the unusual step of issuing the warning by letter regarding Harlequin to every financial service provider in the UK, even those that do not deal with Harlequin.

It’s all very well Gonsalves saying the SVG FSA is independent of the government; we need to be reminded that of the six or seven board members, Gonsalves appoints five. He is the minister of finance. Can you imagine for one minute Gonsalves allowing the FSA a free hand in anything, to act without his approval? Are not the board members all ULPites?

Regardless of all the bad mouthing of Eustace by Browne and Gonsalves in the past, isn't it amazing that almost everything he says turns out to be true, and always is the way he says.

My real worry is if all this further erodes the SVG middle class, perhaps an aid to a Marxist regime. BA wiped out half of our middle class, not handled properly BLA could wipe out the rest. Marxism only works when the people are all poor.

Peter Binose

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