Billionaire businessman Lawrence Duprey believes his CL Financial Group has seen opportunities in the ongoing financial crisis around the world.

The CL Financial chairman has decided to form a network of subsidiary brokerage companies the group owns around the world to acquire new assets at bargain prices.

Brokerage and financial services firm Caribbean Money Market Brokers-a CL Financial subsidiary-will be the central node around which a network of global brokerage houses will be built.

Duprey, who is chairman of CMMB, recently met with the heads of brokerage operations in the CL Financial Group and told them the global financial crisis offered a "unique opportunity to acquire assets at greatly undervalued prices", a statement forwarded to the Express said yesterday.

Duprey told his brokerage executives that CMMB, along with the other firms in the group, would be taking advantage of this situation, the statement added.

CL Financial owns brokerage operations in the Caribbean, Central America, New York and London.

With Port of Spain-based CMMB linked to these brokerages, it creates a network through which CMMB and other investment houses can access liquidity and trade in a wide range of instruments, Duprey said.

CL Financial, which owns more than 70 companies in 32 countries, is registering a brokerage house in the Middle East, which continues to have a significant amount of liquidity given its oil and gas revenues.

The CL Financial Group owns and operates a methanol plant in Oman and is seeking to establish two more plants in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

To achieve these goals, Duprey has appointed former CMMB managing director Ram Ramesh as vice chairman of the company.

Management consultant and former chief executive at what used to be tourism promotion company, Tidco, Vishnu Ramlogan, has also been appointed a CMMB director.