With concerns about the fate of som investment schemes, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has mandated the Ministry of Finance to convene a meeting with the Attorney General and the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The meeting, the Prime Minister's first official move to address the issue, is to be held to formulate clear guidelines on the way forward for unregistered investment clubs.

Mr. Golding has instructed Finance and the Public Service Minister, Audley Shaw and Minister without Portfolio in the Finance Ministry, Don Wehby to meet with Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne and representatives from the FSC to address what he described as "the growing concerns relating to the unregistered schemes".

Report to be submitted

A report is to be submitted to the Prime Minister by Monday.

Mr. Golding gave the directive yesterday after meeting with Ministers Shaw and Wehby, representatives of the banking sector and FSC officials at Jamaica House.

As part of the discussions, which will take place on the weekend, the group has been asked to examine any deficiencies in the existing statutory (regulatory) process that would need to be adjusted, as well as what initiatives could be taken in relation to assets held by operators of the schemes, should the need arise.

The Prime Minister said the priority was to protect the integrity of the country's financial system and establish the requisite legislative framework for dealing with other investment schemes that might develop in the future.

Meanwhile, the FSC is without a chairman today, following reports that Michael Hylton has stepped down.