PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has dismissed an application by a Trinidad and Tobago businessman seeking special leave to challenge the requirement that individuals must obtain a licence from the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago before conducting banking business.
Mike Daniel Bhagwansingh sought to challenge the requirement under Trinidad and Tobago’s Financial Institutions Act (FIA), arguing that this licensing requirement amounted to a discriminatory restriction that breached his right to provide financial services under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), which governs the regional integration movement, CARICOM.
The CCJ, which made the ruling in its Original Jurisdiction after a contested hearing conducted via videoconference, relied on the basic principle that, under the RTC, CARICOM member states, and in limited circumstances, their nationals, may bring claims against another member state.
The CCJ therefore ruled that Bhagwansingh had failed to satisfy the threshold for the grant of special leave.
The Court determined that the proposed claim lacked any cross-border country and other country – element and reaffirmed that the RTC does not grant nationals a right to provide financial and any other services within their own member state, as such activities remain governed exclusively by domestic law.
The CCJ dismissed the application for special leave and awarded costs to the state of Trinidad and Tobago.
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