CDB confirms removal of Leon as president

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on Sunday confirmed that it had concluded the “internal administrative process” involving its president, Dr Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, and that he “has ceased to hold the office of the president of the bank”.

In a four-paragraph statement, the CDB said that Vice-President Isaac Solomon will continue to exercise the authority and perform the functions of the president until a new one is elected.

It said that the process for the election of a new president has commenced and the board has been invited to submit nominations for the position by August 26.

“It is expected that the election process will conclude in October 2024,” the statement added.

In April this year, Leon, a St Lucia-born economist, submitted his resignation with “immediate effect” from the regional financial institution after his lawyers wrote to the bank, indicating that he is of the opinion that “he will never be treated fairly” after being sent on administrative leave in January.

“It is also evident that the bank has lost all trust and confidence in our client by the failure of the board of governors to prevent the continued violations of its charter, policies, rules and regulations with regard to its elected president.

“Our client has therefore made the extremely difficult decision to resign his elected position of the president of the bank with immediate effect,” the lawyers said.

They gave the CDB until May 4 “to negotiate an amicable separation”, indicating also that their correspondence should be viewed “as our client’s pre-action protocol letter” regarding the entire situation.

In the letter dated April 21, Leon’s lawyers said they would be moving to the courts in Barbados – “or any other jurisdiction more appropriate” – to enforce Leon’s legal and constitutional rights.

In January, it was disclosed that Leon had been sent on administrative leave until April this year as “an ongoing administrative process” continued at the financial institution.

The CDB has continued to remain mum on the circumstances surrounding the decision to send the former International Monetary Fund senior official on administrative leave.

In February, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who was attending the Caribbean Community summit in Guyana, said concerns had been raised about the method used to send Leon on administrative leave.

“At some point, we will have to address the issue of the procedures and the fact that subordinates within an institution can literally take disciplinary action against their superior without even consulting with the directors or the governors of the bank,” Browne said.

In May, St Vincent and the Grenadines Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves called on his fellow CDB governors to stop “exposing” the financial institution “to further ridicule and undoubtedly, more litigation” and move on from the “resignation” of its former president.

St Lucian Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre, speaking in his country’s Parliament in May, blamed a “conspiracy” for the removal of Leon saying, “I want to put on record St Lucia’s full support for the work that Gene Leon did at the Caribbean Development Bank and to regret that a conspiracy, and I make no bones about it, and this is not personal to anybody, to any function to the bank, a conspiracy is what caused Gene Leon to resign”.

Leon is the sixth president of the regional financial institution. He was elected at a special meeting of the CDB board of governors held on January 19, 2021, for a five-year term, and assumed office on May 4, 2021.

He succeeded Jamaica-born Dr Warren Smith, who retired in 2021 after serving as president for 10 years.