Afra Raymond calls Carl Hiralal’s affidavits “disturbing”, “unbelievable”, “stunning”
The House on the Corner
by Afra Raymond
Some insights into CIB – CLICO Investment Bank
I am starting to look at the CLICO Investment Bank (CIB) and its operations, as revealed by the ongoing bailout.
CIB is a very interesting part of the saga, because even prior to the collapse of the CL Financial group there was a widely-held view that CLICO and CIB were parts of the group which were responsible for raising finance for their ambitious plans. Even though the interest rates offered by CLICO and CIB were incredibly high – about twice the average offered by others – it would have been much more expensive for the CLF group to borrow those funds via loans. The view was that the group had a legitimate method of harvesting funds on terms advantageous to them.
In April this year the Central Bank applied to the High Court to have CIB ‘wound-up’, due to its insolvency, estimated in that submission to be of the order of $4.7Bn. That application to wind-up is being opposed by the NGC and the National Insurance Board (NIB). Those matters are still before the Courts, which I only mention because the documents filed there give a disturbing insight into the CIB mystery. Continue reading