KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - A federal court in California has authorised the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a "John Doe" summons seeking information about US taxpayers who may hold offshore accounts in a Barbados-headquartered Caribbean bank.
The Department of Justice has identified the bank as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB). It said the order was signed by Senior District Judge Thelton E Henderson.
News
WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it has found that “psychometric” testing is a “good predictor” of creditworthiness and a cost-effective way for financial intermediaries in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce the costs of their credit assessment operations.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Chronicle - THE Civil Defence Commission (CDC) hosted a National Stakeholders Consultation yesterday at which there was a presentation on the National Early Warning Systems (EWS) in Guyana. First in a series, the event was in an effort to get feedback on the documented proposals prior to seeking Cabinet approval of them.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - The Belize government is to launch a national bank that Prime Minister Dean Barrow said should place pressure on commercial banks to reduce lending rates to consumers in the future. Barrow said the National Bank of Belize Limited will have a start-up capital of BDZ$20 million (one Belize dollar = US$0.50 cents) that will come from PetroCaribe funds.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Deputy Leader and Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Investment, Dr Christopher Tufton, is pushing for Jamaica to conduct a comprehensive examination of the economic and social impact of its large and growing diaspora community to inform the country's policy strategy on diaspora affairs.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - TEACHERS WHO have reached the retirement age but who are still working in the public sector in that capacity are to be sent home as part of Jamaica's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Schools employing teachers who are beyond the retirement age are to be notified that they must regularise by September, Jamaica has indicated in its commitment to the multilateral. The plan was included in a ministry paper tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday, which includes the letter of intent governing the agreement.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Richard Byles, the co-chair of the oversight committee which has been established to monitor the implementation of Jamaica's programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), says the team assembled is not for window dressing. "I am a serious business person. I am not there to do anybody's bidding, and everybody that I have heard named to the committee, they are serious people too," Byles told The Gleaner yesterday.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - THE Canadian High Commission has apologised to the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) for a botched naval exercise in March, which saw live 50-calibre rounds being fired in Jamaican coastal waters by two of that country's naval vessels and the interference with a boat in which former Prime Minister Bruce Golding was travelling. The disclosure came on Tuesday as the JDF sought to clear the air on the incident, which the Canadian media said has caused that country much embarrassment.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - JAMAICA will get nearly US$2 billion in loans over the next four years from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the Extended Fund Facility approved by the IMF yesterday. Nearly US$1 billion in funding from the IMF, starting with an almost immediate drawdown of US$207 million, will complement just over US$1 billion in funding from both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, bringing the total loan package to nearly US$2 billion.
CARACAS (Reuters) – Opposition and government supporters flooded Venezuelan streets in rival May Day marches yesterday as a continuing dispute over the results of last month’s presidential vote kept political tensions high in the OPEC nation. On Tuesday, opposition deputies were beaten in a fracas in Congress resulting from their refusal to recognise the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, who narrowly won the April 14 election triggered by the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.