NCB determined to shut down Olint - will appeal

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NCB to take Olint case to Privy Council Friday, 18 July 2008 Determined to close the accounts of embattled [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]alternative [COLOR=blue! important]investment[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] scheme Olint the National Commercial Bank (NCB) is taking its legal fight with Olint to the UK-based Privy Council.

On Friday NCB gave notice that it was going to the Privy Council after the local Appeal Court granted the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]investment [COLOR=blue! important]club[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] an injunction blocking the bank from closing its accounts.

Since late last year, the National [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Commercial [COLOR=blue! important]Bank[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], one of the country's biggest banks, has been seeking to close the accounts of the multi-billion dollar accounts of OLINT.

NCB has consistently maintained that it is following the cue of the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Financial [COLOR=blue! important]Services[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Commission which ordered a cease and desist order on the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]foreign [COLOR=blue! important]exchange [/COLOR][COLOR=blue! important]trader[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] some months ago.

The bank says OLINT is unregulated and this could affect operations and its relationship with the Bank of Jamaica and [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]financial [COLOR=blue! important]institutions[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] in the United States.

But Friday the Appeal Court leaned away from NCB and ordered an injunction blocking the closure of the accounts.

This is welcome news for the investment club which has been confronted by mounting problems in recent weeks.

The panel of [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]judges[/COLOR][/COLOR], led by president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Seymour Panton granted the injunction and ordered a speedy trial of the lawsuit filed by Olint against NCB.

In his comments, Justice Panton said he was allowing the injunction because there are serious issues to be tried in the lawsuit filed by Olint.

In his biting commentary, Justice Panton said he is concerned that [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]banks[/COLOR][/COLOR] have the power to close accounts of clients when there is no evidence of illegal transactions taking place.

The Court of Appeal President added that the argument raised by Olint of an alleged conspiracy among the banks to destroy the scheme is also of serious concern and should be ventilated in court.

Following the ruling, NCB's [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]lawyers[/COLOR][/COLOR] applied to the panel of judges for direction on the handling of Olint's accounts based on news that those in the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Turks [COLOR=blue! important]and [/COLOR][COLOR=blue! important]Caicos[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] Islands have been frozen.

However, Olint's lawyers strongly objected to this application, claiming that NCB was [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]acting[/COLOR][/COLOR] on rumours.

The panel of judges then dismissed the application.

[COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Attorney [COLOR=blue! important]at [/COLOR][COLOR=blue! important]law[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] for NCB Dave Garcia said the bank is