Home Letters Nonsense from WIN to boycott local businesses; the party must get a...
Dear Editor,
I hope that the public will read and then do a little bit of research to really put into perspective the contents of two news items in the local press. This will help to bring closure to some time-wasting and space-taking exercises currently ongoing.
I see that “WIN (is calling) for (the) boycott of two city banks and their businesses.” The word in the press is that the “We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, led by sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, (is calling) on citizens to boycott several city banks and other businesses.” This, as we know, stems from “… the (said) two city banks closed the accounts of several candidates on the party’s list. The party said that the banks and other businesses are being used by the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government to destabilise and demoralise the two-month-old party.”
This man, his ‘supposedly paid-for supporters’ and many in John Public seem most oblivious of the real world. I emphatically state that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government has nothing whatsoever to do with the sanctioning, nor can they do anything. This is a US issue, and by now, I surmise that all would have been au fait with the fact that “The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign jurisdictions and regimes, as well as individuals and entities engaging in harmful activity, such as terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, weapons of mass destruction proliferators, and other malign actors, in response to threats to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. OFAC sanctions take various forms, from blocking the property of specific individuals and entities to broadly prohibiting transactions involving an entire country or geographic region, such as through a trade embargo or prohibitions related to particular sectors of a country’s economy.”
Just for the sake of endorsing my point, I revisit some recent activities on this matter of ‘sanctioning’ and why it is vital that compliance be embraced.
Editor and readers, “Violations of economic sanctions laws can result in severe civil and criminal penalties that can reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars and can lead to debarment and other exclusions.”
For example, in December 2013, The Royal Bank of Scotland (“RBS”) agreed to pay more than $33 million to settle potential civil liability with OFAC for apparent violations of multiple sanctions programmes, even though RBS voluntarily self-disclosed all of its apparent violations. Other recent examples include a $619 million penalty against ING Bank, NV in 2012 and a $500 million fine in 2010 against the former ABN AMRO Bank NV, now named the Royal Bank of Scotland NV, for violations of US economic sanctions laws.
I need say no more. WIN must get this ‘reality check’ and quit the silly disparaging and blaming of the PPP/C. So, when, as reported in the news (I guess in retaliation or clarification of WIN’s bluffing façade), the “PSC (and) GCCI (are condemning) WIN’s call for boycott of banks and associated,” they are in the ‘right’ and ‘know how’.
In a statement of explanation, the PSC said, “The call made by WIN is reckless, inflammatory, and both politically and economically irresponsible.” I add that it reflects a lot of stupidity and ‘attempted bullyism’. The reason is that “Our members make decisions based on their internal risk assessments, legal obligations, and the best interests of their shareholders, employees, and clients. These companies operate fully within the framework of Guyana’s laws and international regulations.”
So when ‘sanctioned man’ is getting his licks, he must not seek to share it with others. It is a natural consequence of his crimes, for which judgement, or at least a court hearing, is very imminent.
The legal reality is that “… all licensed commercial banks in Guyana operate within a framework of national laws and international standards … Banks are guided by strict regulatory obligations, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) requirements, as well as global risk management practices.” This is the crux of the matter.
But read the nonsense from WIN: “This is not an accident. It is a clear, calculated, and cowardly attack against a legitimate political movement contesting elections in its own homeland. It is a politically orchestrated effort to destabilise and demoralise WIN and its supporters.”
I mean, where did WIN get the idea that these subsequent and defaulting measures represent an assault on the Constitution of Guyana? I don’t know if I should at least be tolerant of his foolishness. Look at this: “He is calling on people to boycott “Demerara Bank, Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and all their goods and services, The Beharry Group and all its subsidiaries, goods, and services, KFC and Pizza Hut.”
The good thing is that his opportunistic followers know better.
Yours truly,
Ray Anderson
