Regime to cough up to FRU the promised $3mill

Something went wrong with Bainimarama's plan to overhaul the FRU. While the stunt they pulled to rig the leadership of the rugby body in the military's favour, they now have to front up to the promise of the money (that they know they don't have).

The recent developments still do not guarantee a relaxation of travel bans for a number of those new appointments to the FRU (and any promising military players).

Someone give Tikoitoga an Oscar for pretending (on this issue) that he is not "government".

No other alternative for FRU: Tikoitoga
Friday, May 06, 2011

Newly elected Fiji Rugby Union board member Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga says the Fiji Rugby Union has no other alternative but to try and get the $3 million in assistance being offered by government.

Tikoitoga told FBC News he will assist the new board in trying to convince government to handover the $3 million to prepare the Flying Fijians for the World cup in September.

He says the only way to get the assistance from government is to do what government wants.

“I would like to think the FRU has no other alternative or no data alternative to take governments offer even if it means that some of the member will have to go to satisfy what the government wants and I think that government is working in the interest of the public to make sure that FRU runs in a more transparent and accountable manner to the public of Fiji.”

Tikoitoga was elected to the FRU board last Saturday.

Report by: Apisalome Coka

Banks in Fiji want to hear from consumers

Tucked away, all neat and incospicuously at the end of their statement ON THEIR WEBSITE, the banks finally concede that they would just "welcome" the public to engage with their CEO's on the issue of the Consumer Councils report on Banking Services.

In down-playing the Consumer Council report via this web release, their own submission in response appears verbose and without substance.

The Consumer Council's mandate is very clear -- they are mandated by the
Consumer Council of Fiji Act 1976 to protect our interests as consumers.

If you're concerned about how the banks waste spend your money, get down to the Civic Auditorium Lower Hall this Saturday and ask the hard questions of those ABIF CEOs -- it is after all your money.

ABIF's response to Consumer Council's report on Banking Services...........

The Association of Banks in Fiji (ABIF) on behalf of its member-Banks has now carried out further evaluation of the Consumer Council of Fiji’s Report on “Banking Services in Fiji: From Consumers Perspective”, made public on 14 March this year. Our previous and detailed response is included as Appendix 5 of the report and sadly would appear to have been ignored in the final report.

In our earlier letter to the Consumer Council the ABIF had tried to assist the Council better understand the numerous issues and misunderstandings contained in their earlier draft report.  The Reserve Bank of Fiji in its letter of 3 November 2011 to the Council (Appendix 6 in the Council’s Report) also wrote to clear up many basic misunderstandings about how the banking system operates in Fiji.  It is clear that the author(s) of the final report do not fully comprehend the various issues, and continue to use the banking industry in Australia as a relevant model when evaluating the financial system in Fiji.

It is also disappointing that the author and the Consumer Council both refused to provide us with the full details of the survey they commissioned and which is only partially and very selectively summarised in Section 5.3 of the Report.

Given that the first points of the Executive Summary of the report state that the Report reviews banking services from the perspective of the consumer and leans heavily on this survey, we find the refusal to publish full results to be highly questionable.

Nevertheless in the interest of Fiji and its people, the Association shall endeavour to correct the inaccuracies of the report and allay any doubts that may have been created in the minds of the readers of this Report.

At this point in time and due to the gross lack of attention to care and detail displayed by the author of the Report the ABIF considers it pointless to give a line by line rebuttal of the whole document.  However in order not to be accused of evasion we have for the benefit of consumers again responded formally to the key findings, details of which will be posted very shortly on our ABIF website at the following link  www.abif.com.fj

We recognise that the Consumer Council report has triggered the involvement of the Commerce Commission into an investigation of the overall financial industry. All of our members actually welcome this development as we are in fact aware of many malpractices at the lower end of the finance industry, notably most of the almost 400 regulated money lenders and in fact some we believe who may not be regulated.

The ABIF and its members have offered both the Commerce Commission and the RBF their full cooperation as we feel that the contribution of the major banks to the financial wellbeing of Fiji has actually been both unfairly questioned and under appreciated on the basis of one report written by a former RBF Board Member who has not presented anything remotely resembling a fair portrayal of the industry, who does not even take into account feedbacks from stakeholders and who refuses to publish his source data or even release it to those entities he criticises.

We have every respect for the work of the Consumer Council and for the tenacious efforts of their CEO. We do recognise that some of our charges may be antiquated and in need of review and we will continue to work together with our regulator to update the banking environment.

In the last two years, the influence of RBF on behalf of the consumer has reduced interest margins by between 1 – 2% across the board for the benefit of the consumer. It has also accelerated the widespread expansion of EFTPOS and ATM machines across Fiji where most certainly there is aggressive competition amongst banks.

We are just saddened that neither the Consumer Council which commissioned the report nor the EU which funded it were prepared to check their facts or to make comparisons with similar countries.

The ABIF is holding a Banking Expo on Saturday 7th May in the Lower Hall of the Suva Civic Auditorium and we have put aside one hour for all banks CEO’s to answer questions from the public which we welcome.

Tim Preston wants to protect "his" Fiji patch...

...and throw the rest of Fiji under a bus while he protects his interests against Chinese interests.

It's obvious this gent is oblivious to how shallow, self-serving and colonialistic he sounds.

Fiji Stance Dangerous
Thursday, 5 May, 2011 - 17:56

New Zealand and Australia need to urgently review their stance on Fiji or risk losing their influence in the Pacific, according to a well known Auckland businessman. Tim Preston, who was Managing Director of ASB Securities before retiring in 2006 after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, says the current stand being taken by the New Zealand and Australian Governments against the present Military Regime is not working and they are playing a dangerous game by continuing to shun Fiji.

"While what is happening in Fiji may not fit well with our ideologies, the reality is that the current regime in Fiji has probably saved the country from collapse," Preston says. "And the longer we keep our heads in the sand, the less relevant we will become for Fiji." Preston says other countries, particularly China, are starting to take a keen interest in Fiji and some serious money is flowing into the country from Asia. This is likely to gain momentum over the coming years and as it does, New Zealand and Australia's influence over the region will dissipate.

He says Fiji has some key strengths such as tourism and its fisheries and has historically been regarded as a strategically important country because of its location in the Pacific. However, this seems to have been forgotten by our respective Governments but Preston says it certainly hasn't been lost on countries like China. "There is a growing stream of Government officials and investors pouring into Fiji from Asia and they are liking what they see."

Preston, who has property interests in Fiji, says before the Military takeover by Commodore Frank Bainimarama in 2006, the country was being crippled by corruption and poor economic policies. However, under the current regime, big inroads have been made into stamping out corruption and the current business environment is far more transparent and investor friendly and he says long awaited infrastructure projects are now getting underway.

As well, given the backdrop of the world financial crisis, Preston says Fiji has weathered the economic storm relatively well compared to some other countries and there is a real desire to address the economic challenges ahead. "We seem to be preaching democracy at all costs. But have we really stopped to think that maybe the current Military Regime was exactly what was required for Fiji at this point in its history and what the consequences would have been had the country continued down its old path? "

"The democracy they had before was not really a true democracy anyway as the political parties stood mainly on a racial platform," he said. Preston believes when the timing is right, Fiji will return to a better, truer democracy and rather than pursuing its current policies, New Zealand and Australia should be working alongside the current regime to achieve this. "Otherwise, we can kiss goodbye to any influence we may want to have in the region in the future."

FNPF hypes up new regulation that is still without credible oversight

As the regime's access to money becomes more problematic, the "easy money" becomes more attractive.

So we will watch their latest maneuverings with interest because of the hype that they attach to this exercise.

The sudden about-turn in their views about us, the folks who own the money, is indeed entertaining because they aim to regulate without credible oversight how they will continue to manage our pension funds.

fund plan
writer : ILIESA TORA
5/6/2011

The Fiji National Provident Fund Review of the Act and Pension Scheme is expected to ensure re-focusing on the interest of members.

The review will be the topic of the FNPF Symposium at the Holiday Inn in Suva on May 11 - 12.

The Fiji Sun believes that the 45-year-old FNPF law will come under review to ensure that there is better governance and transparency in the handling of member funds and investments.

At the same time the review is expected to look at the percentage of savings that will be kept for members so that they will have enough funds to help them when they retire.

The FNPF law was made in 1966.

Members have in the past demanded that the FNPF change the law, which many believed can’t meet the demands of today’s economy, financial markets and technology.

The Fiji Sun believes the Review of the Act will include the review of the Fund as an institution and its corporate identity.

A key outcome expected from the review is the better enforcement for governance and transparency in the manner the Fund operates, with members’ interest as the priority.

The current FNPF Act provides for the Minister to appoint two representatives from each of employer groups, unions (representing workers) and Government - a total of six board members.

Currently there are five members that were appointed by the Minister of Finance.

Past FNPF boards have been criticised for poor investment decisions and there has also been criticism of previous Government interference in the decision making processes.

It has been argued that the current Act does not deliver the necessary independence and professional mix of skills and experience to govern the largest financial institution in the country.

The fiduciary responsibilities under the current law are not considered to be strong enough with respect to members’ interests.

Reforms in this area should include keeping a governance board with the Board’s primary fiduciary responsibility being to act, first and foremost in the best interest of Fund members.

The board make-up is also expected to include those with the right skills and experience (professional expertise).

There is concern also that change must happen in a meaningful way with retirement savings policies that is true to the FNPF’s goal of “securing your future”.

The Fund had engaged experts including consultants who designed Papua New Guinea’s superannuation scheme after their crisis 10 years ago.

The Fund is expected to refocus the scheme on providing a secure income in old age, with the emphasis on preserving retirement savings so they can grow.

Currently members can only access two-thirds of their total balances for general purposes (housing, medical, education) while the other one-third is reserved for retirement.

The proposed changes are expected to see changes to the portion preserved for retirement, which will be higher than the portion released for general purposes.

The preserved accounts are expected to be fully preserved until retirement (the earliest retirement age is 55 for most workers). It will grow by compound interest.

It will not be available for early access to benefits - keeping it growing is the only way to ensure that Fiji’s retirement savings scheme truly meets the promise of meaningful financial security in old age.

Members are expected to still be able to withdraw under the current practice from the general account.