The enquiry looked back at what role the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) played in the crisis and what it has done since, especially in light of the current global financial crisis which saw contraction in worldwide economies.

Audrey Anderson, senior deputy governor of the BOJ, said yesterday that despite the crisis and its obvious impact on Jamaica, the country's financial sector continued to maintain very strong capital levels because of the BOJ's actions over the past several years.

Yesterday's first session of the Finsac Commission of Enquiry saw Anderson fielding questions about the bank's role leading up to, during and after the financial collapse of the 1990s.

Anderson took questions in the place of former governor of the central bank Derick Latibeaudiere.

Finsac was a government entity created to, in a sense, bail the financial sector out of its state of free fall.

The rescue plan included the takeover of banks and other financial institutions, beginning with Blaise Trust and Merchant Bank in December 1994, though the full crash and subsequent bailouts would not gather steam until a year and a half later, in July 1996, with the forced rescue of Century National Bank.

Final cost

The final cost to Jamaica to right the system was estimated at 44 per cent of GDP.

Anderson spent the morning session speaking of the responsibility of the central bank in relation to regulating financial institutions.

The enquiry will continue tomorrow with the BOJ still under the spotlight.

The enquiry is expected to have 14 sessions, which will last over five weeks. Dr Omar Davies, former minister of finance, Shirley Tyndall, retired financial secretary, Errol Mclean, former superintendent of Insurance, and Patrick Hylton, former managing director of Finsac, are scheduled to speak.