SSL did not fund election campaigns - JLP

The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) says it has never received campaign money from the fraud-hit investment and brokerage firm Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL).

The private company is at the centre of a $4-billion fraud scandal which has raised questions about how its licence to operate was never revoked despite a documented history of mismanagement over almost two decades.

Public concerns about the Holness administration's interest in the company heightened last week after Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke revealed that it will cost taxpayers at least $15 million monthly to cover wages and some operating expenses at SSL to avoid disruptions to ongoing investigations.

"SSL has never provided campaign funds to the Jamaica Labour Party," Robert Morgan, head of the party's public relations committee and information minister, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

He did not say whether any of the principals of SSL made any donations to the party in their personal capacity. 

Weeks after the SSL fraud was reported in January, JLP leader and Prime Minister Andrew Holness said he gave instructions in September 2021 for his account at SSL to be closed.

It was opened in 2008.

The JLP also said it "has never and does not currently" hold any accounts at SSL.

Morgan's post followed a charge on Saturday in which Opposition Leader Mark Golding questioned Clarke's declaration that paying the salaries of SSL workers is not similar to the bailout of companies in the financial crisis of the 1990s.

In a Radio Jamaica interview on Friday, Clarke said: "In the case of FINSAC, certainly with some of the financial institutions, shareholders kept ownership of institutions, at least for some time, at least with some entities."

Golding challenged the assertion in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

"Is that so? Which entity which was bailed out by FINSAC, retained its existing ownership?" he asked, before listing several entities supported by the Government's Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC).

"Is this another instance of history being distorted for the convenience of current political arguments?"

Clarke hit back, arguing that the FINSAC crisis cost Jamaica 40 per cent of its GDP and "destroyed the Jamaican economy".

"It is unambiguous that the 'policy' bailed out Life of Jamaica (which became Sagicor Jamaica), it bailed out National Commercial Bank (now NCB Group) and in those major cases key shareholders remained involved and intact."

Clarke said: "Somehow your list omitted the LARGEST interventions by FINSAC! How convenient! And then you talk about distorting history. How ironic."

Golding's People's National Party led government in the 1990s.

A Commission of Enquiry report into the matter has not been published despite promises by the ruling party.

The finance minister said Friday he was not in a position to say for how long the Government will cover SSL's costs, but he insisted that it is "clearly not an indefinite situation."

"If we don't pay the salaries, the investigation will be compromised," Clarke said, adding that the Jamaican economy and people would benefit from a successful investigation.

Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Julian Robinson has demanded full disclosure of all costs for the investigation. 

Regulator, the Financial Services Commission, has faced scrutiny after Gleaner revelations that for more than a decade, it flagged SSL as a “problem institution” with a “culture of non-compliance and mismanagement of client funds”

However, despite the findings from its own investigators, the commission never revoked SSL's licence, and the public was never told of the concerns.

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