PNP presses for transparency after Audrey Marks regains controlling Paymaster stake

The Opposition People's National Party has argued that Cabinet Minister Audrey Marks's recent return to a controlling shareholding in Paymaster opens serious questions about how possible conflicts of interest are handled and what protections are needed to keep public trust in government decisions intact.

In a media release, the party noted that Marks leads work on efficiency, innovation and digital transformation — a brief that helps shape policy on Jamaica's digital services, payment systems and the broader fintech landscape. Paymaster, the PNP added, works in that same field, supplying payment and digital transaction services across the economy.

The opposition also said Paymaster's activities sit inside a wider digital and telecommunications setting where regulated operators regularly come into contact with government policy and regulatory rules.

"This further underscores the need for clarity and transparency regarding how any potential conflicts are being managed," the release stated.

Against that backdrop, the PNP said citizens should receive plain answers on several points: whether the minister has applied to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee and received approval or an exemption for her Paymaster ownership while she serves in Cabinet; whether mandatory disclosures have been lodged and weighed under parliamentary procedures for members with business interests; what formal recusal and conflict-management steps are in place to keep her from Cabinet or policy decisions that could directly or indirectly affect Paymaster or its competitors; and what protections ensure government policy on digital transformation, digital payments, fintech and related services is not shaped by any real or perceived private interest.

"For a Cabinet minister to hold ownership in a company operating within a sector directly connected to her ministerial responsibilities inevitably raises questions that must be transparently addressed," the PNP said.

"The issue is not whether any wrongdoing has occurred. The issue is whether sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest arising from this overlap," the party continued.

"Clarity in this matter is not optional, it is essential."

Marks launched Paymaster in 1997. The company offers bill-payment and other transaction services to individuals, businesses and government bodies through a nationwide network of locations.

Paymaster said the transaction concluded negotiations that opened in 2024, before Marks took up her present roles as minister of efficiency, innovation and digital transformation and as member of parliament for Manchester North Eastern.