Plans are still on to hold BTL's Annual General Meeting tomorrow night - but the big question is, will the company declare a dividend? As we've reported, in a special sitting yesterday, the Caribbean Court of Justice ordered the Government of Belize - as the majority shareholder - to hold off on declaring a dividend until at least December 15th.
The Ashcroft Alliance asked the court to prevent the company from declaring any dividends pending the determination of pending appeals. It seems straightforward enough, but, there's a wrinkle. BTL's articles of association say that the company is deemed to have declared a dividend 21 days after making the financials public. Those financials went out on September third, so there's an argument that the dividend has already been declared - and now it's just a matter of cutting the checks.
BTL's small shareholders would be happy to hear that, no doubt, but the majority shareholder is the government of Belize - which has to weigh what, technically, it might be able to do versus what the court has expressly said it wishes it to do.
Right now, the final decision has still not been made. BTL Executive Chairman Nestor Vasquez told 7news this evening that they have not postponed or cancelled the meeting, and they will hold a board meeting tomorrow to decide how to conduct the event.
For now, the declaration of the dividend remains on the agenda for the meeting.
