Penny warns Govt to keep its hands off FCB

Andrea Perez-Sobers

Senior Reporter

andrea.perez-sobers

@guardian.co.tt

“Keep your hands off First Citizens Bank.”

That was the blunt warning issued by Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles yesterday, as she condemned what she described as political interference in the affairs of one of the country’s leading financial institutions.

Beckles, during a news conference at her Charles Street, Port-of-Spain office, expressed deep concern over the recent controversy surrounding First Citizens CEO Karen Darbasie, whose sudden vacation leave has triggered public speculation and conflicting reports.

“In the public domain, we’re hearing multiple stories. One says she went on leave; another says she was asked to resign. But what is clear is that the Government must come clean,” she said.

Beckles stressed that First Citizens Bank, as a listed company governed under the Companies Act, reports to its board of directors, not to the Government or any minister.

“Corporation Sole is not an employer. The Minister of Finance cannot accept the resignation of someone who is not a public servant. The CEO is not an employee of the State.”

She also pointed to reports that the Attorney General had been asked to review Darbasie’s compensation package, calling it a breach of governance norms and a cause for concern.

“This is a dangerous precedent. The board, not the Cabinet, has the sole authority over employment matters within the bank,” she said.

Referencing the bank’s origins in 1993 under the Patrick Manning administration, Beckles said First Citizens was built in the wake of the collapse of three indigenous banks and had since become a model of stability.

“First Citizens has become a household name. Investor confidence is built on trust, and political interference shatters that trust.”

Drawing parallels to the abrupt departure of a former Central Bank governor, Dr Alvin Hilaire, she accused the current administration of repeating the same heavy-handed tactics.

“It’s the same playbook: resign or be fired. But fortunately, the board appears to be resisting that pressure.”

Beckles called on the Government to respect institutional independence, especially in the financial sector.

“The people of T&T are the majority shareholders of First Citizens Bank. They deserve honesty, not backroom manoeuvring.”

The Government last week reportedly attempted to pressure the Group CEO to resign immediately, a move that was repudiated by the bank’s board, which agreed to allow her to take her accumulated vacation leave from August 21, with the aim of retiring from First Citizens on October 21.

Sources said the Government’s attempt to force Darbasie’s immediate resignation included leaking an erroneous story to the Newsday that the Government had accepted her letter of resignation and circulating a fake WhatsApp message claiming that her retirement on October 21 was not due to “external pressure, regulatory issues, or financial factors.”

Sources told Guardian Media that last Tuesday (August 19), Darbasie wrote to Corporation Sole, Minister of Finance Davendranath Tancoo, and copied Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, and Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Kennedy Swaratsingh.

A source external to the bank stated that Darbasie’s letter to the ministers indicated her retirement date was in May 2026, but that she was prepared to demit office as CEO of T&T’s second-largest bank before that if the terms of her contract of employment were honoured.

In response to Darbasie’s letter, Swaratsingh wrote her last Wednesday (August 20), stating, “Following guidance from the Attorney General (John Jeremie SC), on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the main shareholder and Corporation Sole, I accept your letter of resignation from First Citizens.”

Guardian Media understands that one of the reasons the Government wanted Darbasie to resign immediately was its claim that the bank had provided former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley with preferential access to foreign exchange.

That allegation was first raised by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Darrell Allahar in his July 1 contribution to the mid-year budget debate.

Asked on Saturday via WhatsApp if he was aware that an allegation involving him may have been one of the reasons the Government attempted to force Darbasie to resign immediately, Rowley responded:

“I am a shareholder and customer at First Citizens. I have only engaged in NORMAL banking procedures there and have received the kind of treatment I get at other banks in the country,” Rowley added.