The appointment of attorney Arthur Thomas as the new chairman of the Antigua
and Barbuda Electoral Commission is an ‘excellent’ choice.
That’s the view expressed by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who nominated
Thomas to succeed the late John Jarvis who died on January 15 following a brief
illness.
“The selection of attorney Arthur Thomas was an excellent choice and whilst our
political opponents will always say otherwise, when you consider his experience
serving as an attorney for more than 30-years as well as serving as a director for
many organisations not just locally but regionally as well. He is the right man for
the job,” he stated.
PM Browne noted that Thomas once served as chairman of the Caribbean Union
Bank and that his resignation from the post over issues relating to the
Samuel Bankman-Fried FTX matter this seems to be an issue for members of the
UPP.
“I know they are using this Sam Bankman-Fried FTX issue where the investor’s
Antigua and Barbuda company was registered by Thomas’ law firm. Almost
invariably, whenever a lawyer incorporates a company on behalf of his client, until
such time as the company starts to trade, the lawyer will serve as a director.
Thomas was a nominal director and he was not involved in any actual decision-
making of FTX, contrary to what those in the UPP were stating. He was just a
nominal director for one of the companies within the group,” he explained.
PM Browne further explained that the Financial Services Regulatory Commission
had some concerns about the FTX company and had declined to issue it a licence.
According to the prime minister the new ABEC Chair, Thomas, ‘did nothing
wrong’ but who decided to resign from the chairmanship of CUB as well as from
the Eastern Caribbean Regulatory Commission.
“What he did was in keeping with our good governance framework and this was
the right thing to do pending any investigations. You would also recognise that he
has not been implicated in anything,” he added.
The prime minister expressed his full confidence in Thomas as a man of integrity
and experience who will serve well in the post as ABEC chairman.
