.

MFL acts as a broker agent for Government trades, and the commission received by the company for these trades is divided between the company and Ms Webb in an arrangement that gives Ms Webb the greater share of the commission, according to information made available to the

It is understood that Ms Webb received some $50,000 in 2004. In 2003 she received almost three times that amount.

In addition to the commission paid directly to her as result of the understanding with MFL, Ms Webb will also benefit from that part of any Government-related income which accrues to her shareholding in the company.

According to the Register of Members of MFL, Ms Webb is one of five founding shareholders registered in December 2001, and her 20,000 shares represent 12 per cent of the company.

The largest shareholder is MFL chairman and CEO Paul Comesky, with 40,000 shares. The other founding members and larger shareholders are David Beale, MFL president Charles Hollis and Lloyd Roberts, each of whom has 20,000 shares.

The revelation of the information about the profitable outcome of Ms Webb's arrangement regarding Government-related business was a direct result of the allegations made in last week's by consumer activist Raymond Russell.

He claimed that Ms Webb and veteran pension fund administrator Calvin White were guilty of conflicts of interest, in that companies in which they had an interest were awarded the contract to administer the Construction Pension Fund while Ms Webb was a director of that fund and Mr. White was board secretary.

Board chairman Raymond Medeiros and Mr. White issued a press release last week in which they insisted that "no improprieties have occurred in relation to the procurement of professional services".

Mr. White holds multiple roles relating to the management and administration of a number of major pension funds and, most importantly, holds the position of chairman of the Public Funds Investment Committee, the body which controls the investment management of the Government's multi-billion- dollar Contributory Pension and Public Service Superannuation Funds.

It has been alleged, by Mr. Russell and a money management professional, that Mr. White, in his capacity as Hotel pension fund administrator, has not allowed members to see the financial statements of the Hotel fund for the last two years, and that the performance of the plan has been such that Mr. White has delayed the appointment of a successor, and has attempted to move the administration of the plan to Maximum Pension Services (MPS), of which he is CEO and a shareholder, and which is a subsidiary or affiliate of MFL.

Last June, reported that MPS had "opened for business as the island's first stand-alone pension administrator . . . not aligned with an insurance company, bank or trust company to receive approval to operate from the Pension Commission".

It has been alleged that Mr. White lobbied the Hotel fund board to appoint Tina Poitevien, president of the Philadelphia-based Fiduciary Investment Services (FIS), as an investment consultant. Ms Poitevien was also awarded a contract to provide consultancy services to Government's Public Funds Committee; her $500,000 fee is believed to be higher than fees charged by similar US-based pension fund consultants.

As reported on February 1, FIS has been the subject of a number of negative articles in the US press concerning conflicts of interest and fee disputes, and alleging participation in the "pay to play" arrangements that appear to have become commonplace in some parts of the US where it is widely accepted that pension consultants and managers who fail to make payments to political action committees may fail to be short-listed for governmental appointments.

The money manager alleged that FIS and Ms Poitevien, described by the Philadelphia as "a native of Kingston, Jamaica, with a public-finance degree from Harvard", appoints managers who will participate in placing "directed brokerage" business to local companies with Government connections such as MFL, despite the fact that MFL was a start-up company with no track record.

The money manager also alleged that Mr. White and Ms Webb, while chairman of the Public Funds Committee and a Cabinet Minister respectively, met with investment managers and demanded that directed brokerage be placed with MFL.

Despite contributions of $7,000 to the re-election committees of Philadelphia Mayor John Street and Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, Ms Poitevien assured the that payments to politicians had no bearing on her appointment as pension consultant to the city.

"As a citizen of the city, I believe it's a constitutional right to vote and to lend support," she said. "I assure you, it's not an attempt to receive anything. We get business because we are good at what we do."

Ms Poitevien was recently appointed one of two new trustees of Pennsylvania's Public School Employees' Retirement System by Governor Rendell. Last year, Ms Poitevien, who was chief investment officer for the Philadelphia Pension Board from 1990 through 1994, presented a workshop at the sixth annual "Women Making A Difference" awards luncheon and celebration in Philadelphia, where her topic was "Exploring Different Paths To Wealth".

Ms Webb was unable to respond by press time while Mr. White was off the island.

Mr. Comesky, the MFL chairman, said it was common practice in the financial services industry for people who brought business to an entity to be paid a commission for doing so.

"If she, like anyone else in the firm or a company, brings forth a business relationship, generally they would get a commission, a commission earned based on business they bring to the firm, but whether or not that's public information from a personal standpoint, that's something I would refer to the lawyers."

In a follow-up e-mail, Mr. Comesky confirmed that MFL "does serve as a broker agent for a portion of the Government trades and is listed on the approved list of firms to do so.

"Ms Ren?e Webb is a director and shareholder of Maximum Financial Ltd. and has been so since its inception . . . we have received confirmation from the onset that the nature of these business activities has been fully disclosed to the House and any other appropriate parties."