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BY KELVIN A SERGEANT ACADEMIC DIRECTOR UWI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND APPLIED STUDIES LIMITED (Trading as ROYTEC)
Paper presented at COTE 09 Department of Economics UWI , ST. AUGUSTINE October 1, 2009
SCOPE OF DISCUSSION
To concentrate on the contemporary issues in:
Banking Insurance Securities market Credit unions SME Financing Institutions and Venture Capital Financing
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FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
Trinidad and Tobago has a diversified financial structure which accounts for 9.5% of GDP.
But Commercial Banks dominate the financial system, accounting for more than half the total assets of the financial system. Moreover, two commercial banks accounted for 52.5% of the total deposits in 2008. There has been a blurring of the boundaries between institutions (the concept of plain vanilla no longer exist) Large conglomerates became prominent
Financial Institutions from Trinidad now operate in CARICOM Markets and Central America offering new and innovative investment products.
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Devt Banks
Credit Unions Insurance Companies Thrift Institutions NIB Stock Exchange Unit Trust Corporation Home Mortgage Bank Private Pension Funds
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122 57 3 1 1 1 1 212
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122 56 3 1 1 1 1 215
1
125 51 3 1 1 1 1 248
1
126 51 3 1 1 1 1 256
1
129 51 3 1 1 1 1 256
1
129 51 3 1 1 1 1 256
1
131 51 3 1 1 1 1 256
1
130 51 3 1 1 1 1 256 4
COMMERCIAL BANKS
Bank Spreads are consistently high. But Ramkissoon (May 2009) argues that spreads are high because investment and lending is risky business. He further argues that the rates are determined by the risk free rate which is usually comparative. In any case, high reserve requirements represent costs which are reflected in deposit rates.
INSURANCE
During the last decade, insurance company business such as life insurance and general insurance blossomed on account of strong growth in the economy which encouraged the growth of product lines such as mortgage insurance and motor insurance Gross premiums increased by 11% in 2003 - 2008 However, due to competition, and driven by the profit motive, the life insurance sector entered the short-term deposit products market. This created asset/liability maturity mismatch Life insurance investment portfolio returns have been declining since 2003 and pre-tax profits have declined on average since 2006 Two companies exhibited an inability to meet statutory fund obligations Increased risks also by bank and insurance company linkages and Conglomeration- Two companies had to be bailed out by the Government Interestingly enough, Central bank survey last year showed that a vast number of citizens are still uninsured.
CREDIT UNIONS
Credit Union sector now control over $8 billion in assets of the financial sector
Credit unions are also significant investors in financial markets The growth in assets and the business model of some large credit unions has led to some insolvency There is now a move by the Central Bank to regulate credit Unions. This has been met with tremendous protest by members in the movement
Nevertheless, the market continue to offer only a limited range of products. The markets are also characterized by low liquidity and low turnover.
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Measures to boost investor preference for stocks, bonds, venture capital and other securities market instruments are needed Government Fiscal Incentives Pension Funds and Insurance Companies need greater latitude to invest in securities There must be harmonization of:
Listing of securities and restrictions in shareholding Trading and settlement cycle
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There is an urgent need to expand the range of financial products On the supply side, privatization of State-owned Enterprises should be actively pursued.
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Do we possess the expertise to regulate the financial sector. Is there a human resource constraint What would be the total cost of the CLICO bailout to the country? Could it have been avoided? Has the banking or the insurance players considered the confidence issues ? Are the relevant Associations doing anything about it?
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