IMF, WORLD BANK & ADB AGENDA ON PRIVATISATION

Book excerpt: This shockingly explosive Book deals with the manipulative privatization of Sri Lanka Insurance, under a privatization program, pushed by IMF, World Bank and ADB; questionably mishandled by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, contravening governmental procedures and professional standards; involving a consortium of leading corporates, controlled by one individual, portrayed as a close associate of former US President Bill Clinton. This dubious deal was annulled as wrongful, unlawful and illegal by the Supreme Court, the highest judiciary, observing that it `shocked the conscience of Court', asserting that public assets are held in trust on behalf of the people. This Book exposes those holding elected and selected influential and powerful public office unabashedly compromising national and public interests, in the disposal of an invaluable national asset, at a ridiculous price, to parties, who had not even been pre-qualified, with one party incorporated in Gibraltar after the completion of the process, and whose source of funds channeled through a leading Bank remained a mystery. This Book appallingly reveals how pontificating professionals retrospectively manipulated the financials of Sri Lanka Insurance, facilitating a fraudulent demand for a refund from the Government. It reveals the unashamed condoning of fraud and corruption, and bestowing on corrupt miscreants even more recognition, shunning the `rule of law'; and the absence of law enforcement; and the duplicitous stances of the Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Chartered Accountants. This book is an `eye opener' on socio-political realities, and is invaluable to those dealing with privatization, public finance and commerce, fraud and corruption, forensic accounting, and to legal academics and professionals, and public interest activists.