Conflict of interest is denied

WATERFRONT Enterprise Board chairman Gerald Voisin is also the non-executive chairman of a subsidiary of the bank behind developers Harcourt, it has emerged.

But the former States Member denies there is any conflict of interest by his positions on both WEB and on the board at Allied Irish Bank CI Ltd.

After being approached by the JEP yesterday concerning his potential conflict, Mr Voisin released a statement to the directors of WEB explaining his position. But the news of his involvement in both organisations was enough to make Senator Jim Perchard resign from his post as a WEB director.

Mr Voisin has said he has never had any involvement whatsoever with any transactions between Harcourt Developments Ltd and AIB plc or any of its branches or subsidiaries.

‘There is no conflict of interest mainly because the arrangements and relationship with Harcourt are with the Dublin head office and is not with the Jersey office. None of Harcourt’s business is transacted through the Jersey office,’ he said.

‘The business is transacted through AIB in Ireland’s head office, which is a completely separate company and I am not involved in any decisions whatsoever relating to Harcourt developments. In terms of the bank’s business I am not involved in any way with AIB’s relationship with Harcourt or the business that they do with Harcourt.’

He added: ‘The business over here is AIB CI Ltd, who need a chairman to chair the bank over here. It is a separate legal entity and those transactions are conducted through Ireland. I am not involved, nor have I ever been involved, in AIB’s business dealings with Harcourt.’

Mr Voisin – a former St Lawrence Deputy and colleague of Senator Walker on the old Policy and Resources Committee – was appointed as chairman of WEB in July 2006 after a long ‘in camera’ debate.

The appointment was a controversial one – the timing of the debate meant that States Members had two choices: approve the appointment, or effectively dissolve WEB because the terms of the incumbent chairman was about to end. They backed the appointment of Mr Voisin – which was proposed by the Council of Ministers without any input from the Appointments Commission – by 32 votes to ten, with Senator Perchard abstaining from the vote.

Members have told the JEP this morning that at no point during the debate, during the public or secret stages, were they told of Mr Voisin’s links to Harcourt’s financial backers.

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