OPPOSITION LEADER Penelope Beckles called on the government to stay out of the inner dealings of state-owned financial institution First Citizens Group Financial Holdings (FCGFH), parent company of First Citizens’ Bank (FCB) after news reports indicated that “pressure” from the government led to the resignation of the company’s CEO, Karen Darbasie.

“It is important for us to say to this government keep your hands off FCB,” Beckles at the opposition’s media conference at the office of the Opposition Leader on Charles Street, Port of Spain.

“We need to tell them that financial institutions are not playthings,” she said. “Investor confidence is built on trust, and political interference shatters trust.”