Former SSL CEO was unaware of Bolt as an investor

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke is to deliver a much anticipated policy statement this afternoon, in light of the debacle surrounding Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL) and clear inadequacies related to supervision by regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Clarke has called a news conference for 2 o’clock at his Heroes Circle office, at which time he will outline a policy position moving forward in addressing the widening fraud unfolding at the brokerage and investment firm as well as weaknesses in the supervision by the FSC.

The policy statement will seek to reassure the public and overseas interests of the soundness and security in Jamaica’s financial system, in light of several instances in recent time of fraud being perpetrated by clients in certain financial institutions.

In a statement last week, announcing the departure of FSC Executive Director Everton McFarlane, Clarke assured the public there would be full transparency regarding the non-deposit taking financial regulator and its role and decisions in the SSL matter.

Harding breaks silence on SSL fraud

In the meantime, former SSL CEO Zachary Harding has broken his silence on the SSL fraud, declaring to multiple media outlets that he was unaware that Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt was a multi-million US-dollar investor at SSL.

In a statement, Harding said: “I only learnt of Bolt being a client of SSL when the news broke in the media. At no time at all did his or any company he may have been affiliated with ever come up as being a client of SSL while I was there.”

Harding had been CEO of SSL from September 2019 to June 2022.

Continuing, he said: “Additionally, none of the senior management team that I led was working at SSL when Bolt’s account was initially opened. It was also recently disclosed from a reliable source that his team only dealt with one person at SSL, and that was Jean-Ann Panton.”

Panton is the former wealth advisor, who has admitted, in a statement to a justice of the peace, to defrauding more than 30 clients of millions of dollars. Bolt was, however, not named in a list she provided of clients she has defrauded.

In the meantime, Harding defended his stewardship as CEO of SSL, saying the areas of concern raised by the FSC were addressed and positing that “the records will show that issues brought to my attention up to the time I resigned in June 2022, were immediately addressed by the team, in conjunction with the FSC, and with its oversight”.

He added: “There was absolute transparency in the handling of these issues, many of which were well publicised in the local media.”