Tribunal to be established soon

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn is giving the assurance that the process of establishing a Financial Services Tribunal that would help to discourage predatory lending was nearing completion.

At the same time, Straughn is calling on entrepreneurs to start building a track record by taking a loan from the Government-run Trust Fund Limited as the new Fair Credit Reporting Act takes effect.

This comes on the heels of concerns raised by several pundits including Opposition Senator Caswell Franklyn, that Government should protect Barbadians from financial institutions that were engaging in lending practices that were deceptive or unfair.

Straughn said, “As we gave a commitment in the Throne Speech to establish the Financial Services Tribunal that process is almost complete to make sure that the practices of financial institutions are regularized such that things like predatory lending and those types of things are not encouraged.”

Though not giving any definitive timeline for the new mechanism to be put in place, Straughn said that systems were being prepared which would protect individuals from being enticed to take loans with massive interest payment options.

He dismissed critics of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. “They have nothing substantive to say because they can never contribute anything constructive to help us resolve some of these long-standing issues.”

The economist further suggested that individuals who were not in need of a loan should still take one from the Trust Fund Ltd. so they could build a track record.

“The reality is that whether you need $5000 or the $10,000 or not, you should go through the exercise and demonstrate you could pay back the loan and turn it over quickly and establish the history,” he recommended.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a credit reporting system will be established, providing individuals with access to free credit reports.

Commercial banks, credit unions and other lending financial institutions and businesses that offer hire purchase would be able to share information on debt obligations to determine an individual’s credit worthiness.

Stating that “everything is connected”, Straughn, who was introducing the Procurement Bill 2021 on Tuesday in Parliament, said, “The purpose of the bill here is to open up opportunities for people and in opening up the opportunities for people we have started to put systems and reforms in place to help people along the way.”

However, he stressed, “Unless you engage with the process and be disciplined in the process then you will always find yourself wanting because there are people out there always ready to mislead people.”

Referring specifically to clause 60 of the Procurement Bill, which speaks to the procurement of public-private partnerships, Straughn expressed frustration that some people continued to spread misinformation regarding the public–private partnerships for some entities such as Harrison’s Cave and the Grantley Adams International Airport despite the amount of information that was being published.

“It is frustrating,” said Straughn. (MM)