The Caribbean Court of Justice has dismissed an application by Mike Daniel Bhagwansingh seeking permission to begin proceedings, by an application for special leave, against the State of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to the Court, Mr Bhagwansingh had sought to challenge the requirement under T&T’s Financial Institutions Act, that individuals must obtain a licence from the Central Bank before conducting banking business.
He reportedly argued that this licensing requirement amounted to a discriminatory restriction that breaches his right to provide financial services under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
The CCJ says its judgment relied on the basic principle that under the RTC, Member States — and in limited circumstances, their nationals — may bring claims against another Member State.
Therefore, it held that Mr Bhagwansingh had failed to satisfy the threshold for the grant of special leave.
The Court also determined that the proposed claim lacked any cross border (country and other country) element and reaffirmed that the RTC does not grant nationals a right to provide financial and any other services within their own Member State, as such activities remain governed exclusively by domestic law.
The ruling also awarded costs to the State of Trinidad and Tobago.
