Caribbean News
GUYANA needs banks but fears T&T Monopoly
By Shanieka Smith
Features Writer
#Guyana, June 25, 2022 – For the second time in three years, a planned deal has failed between Scotiabank Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago in First Citizens Limited. Last week, First Citizens issued a legal notice to inform that the Purchase and Sale Agreement between First Citizens Limited and the Bank of Nova Scotia for the sale of Scotiabank’s retail operations in Guyana expired. The agreement was terminated.
However, this time, it is revealed that the Bank of Guyana denied the transaction out of concern that Republic Bank would gain a near-monopoly position in the Guyanese banking sector.
President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Timothy Tucker, said, “If the Republic bank, Scotia Bank merger was done, it would have over 50 percent of the depository…so that is why that deal was rejected.”
He added that “Republic bank had made an attempt to buy Scotia Bank Guyana and like any regulator, in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world, if a bank is then going to, if the acquisition of a bank is going to create a monopoly or something that can be detrimental to the depository institutions, then you will have a problem.”
The First Citizens, Scotia Guyana deal received backlash from regulators when it was announced in March 2021.
Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, and the Bank of Guyana have both criticised the announcement.
“The announcement] was premature and inappropriate, said Minister Singh back then. The Bank of Guyana said FCB, “entered the said agreement without informing the BOG.”
Last year, the lapse caused institutions and business people in the region, especially Guyana, a considerable amount of money.
Tucker said the announcement had raised alarms around the business community and added that a local institution in Guyana, the Bank for Trade and Industry, placed a higher offer for Scotiabank, and Scotia Bank went with First Citizens. While he is uncertain of the reason for that, he said that if the agreement were successful, two Trinidad banks would control over 50 percent of the depository institutions within Guyana.
Tucker made it known that Trinidad and Tobago banks are not blacklisted; the Republic Bank remained the largest bank in Guyana. He added that he would welcome more Trinidad and Tobago banks in Guyana since it only has a few banking institutions. The only issue is that the banks must enter independently and not at the expense of foreign banks like Scotia.
“So the local private sector, while we are advocating hard for our more financial institutions, we don’t mind First Citizens applying for a banking license and coming in as a regional bank, but when we are going to lose one of our international banks to a regional bank, the business sector has a problem with that,” he said,” We don’t control the process. Even if we have a problem with that, it’s a free capital market. Companies are free to sell to whomever they choose to sell. We support that. But at the same time, we are worried about the concentration of our depository institutions into the region alone. This isn’t going for Trinidad banks; it goes for if a bank from Jamaica came to buy Scotiabank. We would fundamentally have an issue with it,” he said.
First Citizens Bank said it would continue to pursue “geographic diversification and digital transformation strategies.” In the meantime, Tucker is hoping it will open other opportunities for Guyana.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
Caribbean News
Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts celebrate a night of wins, and take home a total of 16 titles at the 32nd Annual World Travel Awards
-
world news1 week ago80% of the World’s Poor Face Climate Hazards — UNDP Sounds Alarm
-
TCI News6 days agoFrontier Airlines’ Arrival to Turks & Caicos Marks a Game-Changing Connection
-
TCI News1 week agoBeaches Turks and Caicos Celebrates TCI National Heritage Day with investment in youth and culture
-
TCI News1 week agoInvest Turks and Caicos Unveils Categories for The MSMES “A Celebration of Excellence”
-
Uncategorized1 week agoISU Supports Successful Multiagency Demolition Exercise in Blue Hills
-
USA6 days agoNarco-Terrorist Take Down by US Gutting Caribbean Gang-Crime
-
TCI News7 days agoTurks & Caicos Police Commissioner Urges Students to “Awaken Their Sleeping Giants”
-
TCI News3 days agoHURRICANE MELISSA: NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTIONS