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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Trafigura: Someone will have to pay</SPAN>
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Sunday, October 15, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>While the Trafigura affair has, understandably, titillated our political palates, it is critical that we acknowledge - and without the usual emotionalism - the need to fix the situation that led to the leak of information on a client's account at a bank.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For the purposes of this editorial, let us forget that the account belonged to or is linked to the ruling People's National Party (PNP) or that the information was leaked to the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP): in other circumstances it could have been vice versa.
Let us also forget that the breach was allegedly committed at the FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB): it could just as well have been any other bank.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last Wednesday's statement from the umbrella Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA), which was clearly meant to shore up confidence in the banking sector after the leak, was also a clear admission that the confidentiality breach could outlast the political controversy which it stirred, in terms of the long-term effects of the damage it can cause.
In our view, the JBA's statement fell short of achieving the objective of rebuilding customer confidence. More, much more, was required than blaming employees, as was implicit in the association's warning that bank workers would be punished for confidentiality breaches of customers' rights.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We wonder why, given the critical importance of this issue, the bankers chose to make a statement, rather than hold a press conference where the matter could have been more fully ventilated. Their public relations officers seemed to have fallen asleep. Or did they?<P class=StoryText align=justify>For example, there are questions about the integrity of the systems that the banks have in place to protect the confidentiality of information related to customers' accounts. And what have been the repercussions, if any, of the FCIB leak? Has any foreign bank which does business with local banks expressed any nervousness and doubts about subjecting their clients to the situation in the Jamaican banks? Has any client, local or foreign, closed accounts in a way that suggested concern about leaks? Is the JBA supporting the FCIB in its investigation of the matter?<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the same way that we have not yet been given a clear picture on the details of the deal between the PNP and Trafigura, we have not been adequately informed as a country on what really transpired at the FirstCaribbean Bank.
We know that a senior executive of the bank was sent on leave - the nature of which we are not yet sure about - while the bank investigates the leak. But we don't know why that particular individual was selected.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In an age of information and at a time when the Jamaican media community is at its largest in number of outlets, it is difficult to fully comprehend the depth of the information void exposed by this Trafigura affair.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Eventually, the truth must come out and someone will have to pay. When it does, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller will have to answer for the deeds or misdeeds of her party; and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding will have to answer for the damage done to the integrity of the banking sector.
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Sunday, October 15, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>While the Trafigura affair has, understandably, titillated our political palates, it is critical that we acknowledge - and without the usual emotionalism - the need to fix the situation that led to the leak of information on a client's account at a bank.<P class=StoryText align=justify>For the purposes of this editorial, let us forget that the account belonged to or is linked to the ruling People's National Party (PNP) or that the information was leaked to the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP): in other circumstances it could have been vice versa.
Let us also forget that the breach was allegedly committed at the FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB): it could just as well have been any other bank.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last Wednesday's statement from the umbrella Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA), which was clearly meant to shore up confidence in the banking sector after the leak, was also a clear admission that the confidentiality breach could outlast the political controversy which it stirred, in terms of the long-term effects of the damage it can cause.
In our view, the JBA's statement fell short of achieving the objective of rebuilding customer confidence. More, much more, was required than blaming employees, as was implicit in the association's warning that bank workers would be punished for confidentiality breaches of customers' rights.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We wonder why, given the critical importance of this issue, the bankers chose to make a statement, rather than hold a press conference where the matter could have been more fully ventilated. Their public relations officers seemed to have fallen asleep. Or did they?<P class=StoryText align=justify>For example, there are questions about the integrity of the systems that the banks have in place to protect the confidentiality of information related to customers' accounts. And what have been the repercussions, if any, of the FCIB leak? Has any foreign bank which does business with local banks expressed any nervousness and doubts about subjecting their clients to the situation in the Jamaican banks? Has any client, local or foreign, closed accounts in a way that suggested concern about leaks? Is the JBA supporting the FCIB in its investigation of the matter?<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the same way that we have not yet been given a clear picture on the details of the deal between the PNP and Trafigura, we have not been adequately informed as a country on what really transpired at the FirstCaribbean Bank.
We know that a senior executive of the bank was sent on leave - the nature of which we are not yet sure about - while the bank investigates the leak. But we don't know why that particular individual was selected.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In an age of information and at a time when the Jamaican media community is at its largest in number of outlets, it is difficult to fully comprehend the depth of the information void exposed by this Trafigura affair.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Eventually, the truth must come out and someone will have to pay. When it does, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller will have to answer for the deeds or misdeeds of her party; and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding will have to answer for the damage done to the integrity of the banking sector.