ATTORNEYS at the ongoing enquiry into 1990s financial meltdown have raised concerns about the absence of legal representation for the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (Finsac) — the agency at the heart of the investigations.

“I find it extraordinary indeed that an enquiry of this nature has no legal representation here from Finsac,” said Sandra Phillips, attorney-at-law representing the Jamaica Redevelopment Foundation (JRF). “It is an enquiry into the ‘collapse’ (and I use the word in quotation marks) of the financial sector in the 1990s,” Phillips continued.

Questions were raised about Finsac’s lack of representation at the enquiry after attorney-at-law Judith Clarke, watching the proceedings on behalf of the commission, objected to statements made by Phillips. While cross-examining witness Albert Jonas, Phillips sought to clarify loan repayments allegedly made to Finsac by Jonas.

Jonas, a craft manufacturer who faced the commission in the morning session, said he had lost his home after taking a $500,000-loan to purchase materials.

However, Clarke, arguing that Phillips could not speak on behalf of Finsac, suggested that legal counsel should be present at the enquiry to protect the interest of the agency.

For that brief moment both legal counsels agreed. “We have all noted that Finsac is represented by the Attorney General’s Chambers,” Phillips commented.

Commissioner Worrick Bogle said invitations were in fact sent to Finsac, however, the agency chose not to send legal counsel to the sittings. He said the absence of Finsac was not a problem for the commission but “it could be a problem for Finsac” as allegations were being made against them.

Former Finance Minister Omar Davies set up Finsac in the late 1990s to administer assets of failed banks and other institutions after the financial sector collapse. The Finsac portfolio was subsequently sold to JRF, a US-based debt collecting company, at a highly discounted rate.

In December 2009, Errol Campbell, managing director of Finsac, first faced the enquiry, then again in February 2010. During his first stint, Campbell parried tough queries from commissioners, then headed by retired Justice Boyd Carey. At the time, Campbell requested time to do the necessary research after he declined to answer numerous questions, saying he did not have the facts.

Campbell became head of Finsac in 2008 and was not at the helm when so-called non-performing assets were sold the JRF.

Also giving testimony at Wednesday’s sitting was lecturer in accounting, Anthony Hutchinson, who outlined a trail of financial problems that left him with a debt of more than $12 million and his home on the auction block.