TRINIDADIAN financial institutions like commercial banks should not be blamed for being conservative in their lending practices, entrepreneur Arthur Lok Jack has said.

He was responding to a question from a member of the audience at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business's “An Evening with Lok Jack” forum.

The event was held at the school's compound at Mt Hope and Lok Jack was the main speaker.

One audience member asked Lok Jack for his opinion on Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran's call for commercial banks to be more willing to lend to start-up businesses.

Lok Jack said while there was a need to lend to entrepreneurs, multi-branch larger banks were run by shareholder pressure and bankers had a mandate to protect their investors' money and were therefore risk averse.

While speaking at the Tunapuna Chamber of Commerce's “Meet the MPs” business forum, Dookeran said banks should aim to change the ratio of business to consumer loans within the banking system to one which showed a higher percentage of money being borrowed to fund business start-ups and expansions.

But Lok Jack told the audience: “Bankers come from a special school, their schooling says to protect their investors' money.”

Lok Jack who is a past president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers' Association and the former chairman of Caribbean Airlines Ltd, said the country needed to look outside the mainstream banking system to another model if citizens wanted to see more investments in new companies.

He said community-based banks which are less pressured by shareholders might be better options for small and medium-sized businesses.

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