10^th February 2011

Afra Raymond’s first submission to the Commission of Enquiry into the failure of CL Financial Limited, Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Limited, Clico Investment Bank Limited, Caribbean Money Market Brokers Limited, and The Hindu Credit Union Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited.

My name is Afra Martin Raymond and I am a Chartered Surveyor, being a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.  I am Managing Director of Raymond & Pierre Limited – Chartered Valuation Surveyors, Real Estate Agents and Property Consultants.  I am also the President of the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC), an umbrella organisation which represents the interests of Engineers, Surveyors, Architects, Town Planners and Contractors in this Republic.

This submission is being made in my personal capacity and does not represent the position of either Raymond & Pierre Limited or the JCC.

My work on this vital issue has all been based on the public record and can be seen at my blog www.afraraymond.com.

I am willing to give oral evidence before the Commission.

• The articles – These are 42 No. newspaper articles on the CL Financial bailout, its background and consequences.

• The TV/Radio Shows – I have done seven TV interviews on the CL Financial bailout and those are available at the ‘Multimedia’ page of my blog.

• Up Next! TV interview with Brian Branker, former Executive Chairman of British American Insurance Company Ltd (BAICO) – This is the first time, to my knowledge, that one of the CL Financial chiefs has gone onto the record to speak about these events.  The interview is available at http://vimeo.com/15145888.

• The 30^th January 2009 MoU – This is the original bailout document and a signed pdf is here – http://www.finance.gov.tt/content/mr03183E.pdf.

• The 12^th June 2009 CL Financial Shareholders’ Agreement – this is the subsequent agreement, erroneously described by the Ministry of Finance as ‘giving substance to’ the original MoU, but later found to have enshrined a decided shift in favour of the shareholders – https://afraraymond.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mou21.pdf.

I do believe all the items in this submission to be true and correct, save and except for the Up Next! Interview, which comprises the views and observations of Brian Branker.

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Afra M. Raymond B.Sc. FRICS

www.afraraymond.com