The Central Bank and collapsing finance companies

The talk today in the country and elsewhere is about the Kotelawalas and Sakvithis. The rich and the poor who invested monies with them have been taken for a ride. The people who invested monies in the companies belonging to Deshamanya Lalith Kotelawala placed a lot of trust in him, because he is from a respected family.

In the latter part of 1989 and early 1990 many finance companies began to collapse like a pack of cards. This I would say was because the Central Bank failed to monitor the performance of those companies and take corrective action in terms of the Finance Act No.78 of 1988, as amended by Act 23 of 1991.

HPT Ltd. was one of finance companies that failed during this period. Many people had deposited their commuted pensions and provident fund payments in HPT and received interest without default for a very long time.

But suddenly they found that the company had been sealed by the Central Bank despite the fact the Central Bank had its nominee on the board of HPT Ltd. Apparently the Central Bank had failed to monitor the activities and the viability of this company which had been in existence from 1959.

Irrespective of what happened it must be said to the credit of the chairman and deputy chairman of HPT that they did not desert the depositors despite the fact that some of the directors of other finance companies that collapsed almost at the same time went underground while others were living in comfort abroad with the poor depositors’ money.

Thanks to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga she directed her officials to take meaningful steps to settle the depositors of HPT Ltd.

The board of HTP in consultation with the Central Bank then decided to repay 50% of the depositors’ liability after the sale of its head office premises.

The balance 50% of the depositors have still to be paid by the HPT Ltd., and they number about 3000. What the liquidators state is that several lands belongings to HPT are vested with the Land Reform Commission and that the liquidators are helpless.

President Rajapakse should now act fast and instruct his officials to settle the claims of HPT depositors by releasing these lands to enable payments to be made to these depositors

Most of the depositors have passed the biblical three score and ten years of age and are reduced to the state of destitutes and many have now died.

The collapse of the finance companies could have been averted if the Central Bank officials had read Clause 10 of the Insurance Corporation Act No.2 of 1961 which requires the insurance of all deposits held by finance companies. At the time of issuing licenses to finance companies, the Central Bank should have insisted that this clause be incorporated into any agreements prior to the issue of licenses.

I would like to ask an appropriate question from the authorities concerned with regard to the collapse of Pramuka Bank. Why did the Central Bank issue a licence for Pramuka Bank to operate when the chief executive of that bank was allegedly involved in a large exchange fraud in another bank and a court case was pending?

Serious allegations had been made by the chief executive against officials of the Central Bank before he left the country, and how the Public Trustee and government departments deposited money in the newly established Pramuka Bank.

President Rajapakse should be warned of placing too much confidence in the Central Bank statistics which may lead his party into the same pit as the UNP.

How many directors of the collapsed finance companies have been prosecuted by the Central Bank? How many directors of finance companies have run away with depositors’ monies, and has the Central Bank sought the assistance of INTERPOL to trace any of these directors with a view to meting out justice to defaulted depositors?

The government should immediately appoint a commission to go into the assets of these people and confiscate all their assets. The Tax Department too could rope in all big time depositors in the recently failed finance companies for invariably these could be monies not earned by legal means.

I remember about 30 years ago when a person went to buy a motor vehicle or invested on a house or property, the Tax Department wrote to him asking for his income tax file number.

It is common knowledge today that in Sri Lanka any one can commit any offence and get away Scot free if one had the right connections and money, because anything could be swept under the carpet.

A super sportsman of yesteryear

It has been said that a Captain must be everything he desires his team-mates to be. It has also been said, if the cap fits, then one should wear it.

Billy Balthazaar, lovingly referred to as ‘skipper’ by his team-mates at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo and the Mayflower Cricket Club - 1967, certainly did wear the cap, and it was a perfect fit! He started his career as a planter, thereafter he worked at Liptons and finally at the State Plantations until his retirement at the age of 62.

A cricketer of outstanding reputation, he built a team on what the Mayflower Cricket Club of the day called "the ability to inspire others by personality and example, to weld them into a team, to evoke loyalty from them, to bring out in them the need for self discipline and to make them do their best to achieve success."

The team’s expectations were high, their vision for the future very clear and they were ready to be lead by a man who had all these qualities and more to offer.

And lead them he did! All the way to the top, to success upon success, winning every match of the season and meeting every challenge along the way with aplomb. A wicketkeeper of repute, he proved he had an excellent eye on the ball by taking four catches behind the stumps in the match against CCC who were, as the local newspaper headlines screamed, ‘mowed down’ by Mayflower on that fateful day at CCC grounds.

The Mayflower Cricket Club never had a better ‘innings’ in all their existence. They were proud to hold their heads high and prouder still, of the standards Billy Balthazaar the skipper had set for the team in just two years of tournament cricket.

There were many more sparkling victories in his long career as captain, cricketer and coach that are too numerous to mention here. His final year of college cricket at St. Joseph’s College saw some brilliant team-work — a well balanced all-round combination under his able captaincy that went unbeaten in 1950. Billy opened batting and kept wickets for St. Joseph’s in 1948, 1949 and 1950.

He opened batting and kept wickets for the Ceylon Combined Schools in 1948. He played hockey for college. He boxed; Billy won cricket and hockey colours at St. Joseph’s. He played Sara Cricket for Kandy United as wicket keeper/opening batsman. He played for CPCA against the MCC in 1952. He played cricket and hockey for the Old Josephians in the Quadrangular and Andriez Shield. He captained the Old Joes at cricket. In his early days as a planter he played for Dimbulla and Upcountry against foreign teams.

All in all he is remembered as one of the great wicketkeepers of yesteryear, in both Ceylon and India. The journey from the head to the heart is long and arduous for many, for some, easier to negotiate and for a few it is a joyful, renewing, refreshing, wholesome experience. The tides of time with its ebb and flow bring sunrise and sunset with every glow. It takes away those we know. And whilst we mourn the loss we need to remember… it does leave something or someone behind, on the shore. I believe we should start looking.

As a fitting tribute to this past Josephian cricket captain, priests of the calibre of Rev. Fr. Joe De Mel, Rev. Fr. Lucien Dep, Rev. Fr. Felician Ranjith Perera and the present Rector, Rev. Fr. Sylvester Ranasinghe, all Josephian stalwarts officiated at Billy’s funeral at Kanatte, Borella, recently. Billy passed away peacefully at the age of 79.

May his soul rest in the Saviour’s embrace until that day.

Francis Wilhelm Milhuisen