D.F.C. commission of inquiry holds first meeting

The commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the operations of the Development Finance Corporation has held its first meeting. The Monday meeting, which was not open to the public, reviewed its terms of reference, drafted a tentative schedule of public and private hearings and compiled an initial list of documents and records that have been summoned from the DFC. These are as follows:

names of members of DFC Board of directors, identifying Chairman and Acting Chairman, for period under review;

names of DFC employees, including posts, duties/responsibilities, remuneration package etc. for period under review;

management structure of DFC;

loan portfolios and status thereof, for period under review;

guidelines/policies (including loan criteria) for loan
applications, approvals, disbursements and monitoring;

provisions/mechanisms for loan collection and recovery of delinquent loans or collateral;

IDB report on the Development Finance Corporation (December, 2004);

records of ALL disbursements by DFC, including, but not limited to, legal fees, commissions, premiums, facilitation fees, etc.;

all documents relating to securitisation programmes, including records of the Belie Mortgage Company, or any other “special purpose vehicle” utilised in the securitization programmes;

minutes of all Board and other relevant committee meetings for period under review;

official correspondence between the DFC and other entities, including, but not limited to, relevant GOB ministries/departments, including the Central Bank of Belize and the Belize Social Security Board; the Belize Mortgage Company; other ‘agents’, foreign and local, acting on behalf of the DFC, during the period under review;

records of all financial instruments issued by DFC, including, but not limited to, debentures, bonds and loans; and

Financial Statements (audited and unaudited) and Financial Reports of the DFC for the period under review.

Public hearings are expected to begin during the first week of May. The commission consists of Chairman David Price and members Herbert Lord and Merlene Bailey Martinez.