Executive director of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Lieutenant Colonel Keron Burrell has defended the regulator’s consultation process for proposed insurance fee increases, rejecting claims by the Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) that the industry was not adequately engaged before the matter was brought to Parliament.

Burrell also took direct aim at IAJ Executive Director Everton McFarlane. Arguing that the fee review did not originate under his leadership but was one of several long-standing issues inherited from McFarlane when he took over the regulator, Burrell suggested the former FSC executive director should “look in the mirror”.

The comments came during Thursday’s virtual sitting of the Senate’s Regulations Committee, where Burrell countered recent criticisms from the IAJ that insurers had not been meaningfully consulted on the proposed fee increases and were not provided with sufficient information to properly assess the changes.