In other circumstances, we might have argued that matters should be left to the law and the market and allowed to run their course. But a large number of relatively poor Jamaicans are at risk and Finance Minister Audley Shaw cannot escape his responsibility to speak clearly to the issue. Indeed, it would be immoral for Mr. Shaw to attempt to quietly extricate himself from the affair.

For he will recall that we warned in these columns several months ago that he might be creating a moral hazard for himself should his party become the Government and he was given, as expected, the portfolio he now holds.

Our concern, of course, is the imbroglio between their bankers and those two organisations, Cash Plus and Olint, that operate what are now referred to a investment schemes. Both outfits brand themselves as investment clubs, guaranteeing their 'members' returns equivalent to 100 per cent, and more, per annum.

For a long time, both institutions have been at loggerheads with the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which regulates non-bank investment companies.

The FSC has insisted that these organisations fall under its purview and that, as traders/advisers in securities, the law demands that they be registered and their operations be transparent. At least in the case of Olint, the matter is now before the courts for determination.

In the meantime, both the FSC and the central bank have been warning of the dangers of Ponzi schemes and telling Jamaicans of the risks associated with offers of extraordinarily high returns.

What is new is that during this past week, both Olint and Cash Plus have claimed that their bank accounts in Jamaica have been blocked, or that their bankers have made it difficult to access funds.

Information has circulated, too, that banks have been reporting to the authorities transactions on Cash Plus' accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Money Laundering Act. Other financial organisaions have also become involved in the situation.

It all remains fuzzy. No one is bringing clarity to the issue. The only people speaking in any specific fashion are the managers of Cash Plus, whose argument, essentially, is that life is being made difficult for them by jealous banks that had been losing deposits to thes investment schemes.

In the case of Cash Plus, however else the group may raise money, it has a lot of poor people's cash from small savers tied up in its investment schemes. It is this class of people, those who can least afford it, who will hurt most in the absence of access to their money or, if the schemes ultimately fail. It is assumed that people who have put money in Olint have greater cushion.

Of course, agencies like the FSC and the central bank will be in a position to argue that they have long warned of the potential dangers. Mr. Shaw, however, can make no such claim. He, in fact, did quite the opposite.

It will be recalled that Mr. Shaw, from the Opposition benches earlier this year, complained of the former government making life difficult fo investment schemes and accusing the then administration of stifling entrepreneurship.

The finance minister must say if he still holds this view; whether he feels the regulators are engaged in undue harassment; and what, if any, support investors can expect from the Government.

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