Jamaicans Still Buying into Financial Schemes

Jamaica’s FSC Senior Management Team

Jamaica has been home to the high-profile OLINT issue, what some have dubbed the Caribbean’s version of the Bernard Madoff controversy. But according to the Jamaican Financial Services Commission, there are 64 unregulated investment schemes on the books, as Jamaicans apparently continue to put their money in the hands of unregulated, unlicensed schemers. Rohan Barnett, executive director of the FSC, said certain information, like balance sheets, financial data about the company, and regulatory status are fundamental to any investment decision — yet many Jamaicans are foregoing them. “I don’t agree with the suggestion that capital markets should operate in this unbridled fashion, so that anyone who decides that they have an idea can enter the market and start taking people’s money without being able to provide them with the necessary information to support that,” he said.