Alliance Rejects BOJ’s Assertion Bank was Cleared to Revoke Licences

Lawyers representing the Alliance Financial Group’s former owners, Robert Chin and his brother Peter, have rubbished the Bank of Jamaica’s assertion that a court reviewed and validated its decision to revoke the companies’ licences.

According to King’s Counsel, Tom Tavares-Finson, the court ruled that Alliance Financial Services Limited’s judicial review claim had realistic prospects of success.

Shaloy Smikle tells us more.

Last week, the Bank of Jamaica defended the actions it took against the pair in 2021. These include the revocation of certain licences, which jeopardised the operations of the business.

This is despite a court later dismissing the criminal charges, which partly contributed to the entity’s licence revocation.

KC Tavares-Finson says the court granted the entity permission to bring a judicial review claim. 

However, the King’s Counsel says the claim would have possibly taken months or years to be decided. 

He says the company would not have been able to operate for that entire period unless an interim injunction was granted by the court. 

That injunction was refused.

In its ruling in 2022, the court recognised that damage would be done to the business by not being able to operate until the outcome of the review.

But the court acceded to the BOJ’s argument that the potential damage to the Jamaican economy and the financial sector outweighed the concern.

The King’s Counsel says the effect of the BOJ’s suspension of Alliance Financial Services’s licences and the length of time for a judicial review hearing were devastating. 

He says the actions of the BOJ left the Chins with no option but to sell their company to ensure the continuity of the business.

He also says the BOJ’s actions caused severe and debilitating damage to the brand and the reputations of Peter Chin and Robert Chin.