Trinidad and Tobago: Deposit Insurance Limit to Increase to $200,000

• Finance Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Colm Imbert, has issued an order increasing the deposit insurance coverage limit by 60%, raising it from $125,000 to $200,000. The new limit will take effect from October 1. The deposit insurance coverage limit was last increased in 2012 when it moved from $75,000 to $125,000.
• According to the Deposit Insurance Corporation of T&T, the types of accounts covered have not changed. Deposit insurance will remain applicable to savings, chequing, demand, and time deposit accounts held in T&T dollars.
• Coverage continues to remain applicable for single accounts, joint accounts and irrevocable express trust accounts. Foreign currency accounts, however, are not protected by deposit insurance. 
• In addition to the coverage limit increase, Imbert also issued an order increasing the associated premiums on contributing financial institutions. The premium increase levied on member institutions from 0.2% to 0.3% will be staggered over two years, and will also take effect from October 1. This is projected to result in an accumulated incremental increase in premiums levied by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of approximately $95Mn annually.
• The Deposit Insurance Corporation stated that the increases do not mean that there is a problem with member institutions and that it conducts biennial (every other year) reviews which consider the adequacy of deposit insurance protection to ensure adherence to international best practices.
• These best practices include recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Association of Deposit Insurers' (IADI).

(Source: Trinidad Express Newspaper)