Fellow Anguillians, the leader of government business addressed the people of Anguilla in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. We were anxiously waiting – with bated breath – for (1) a meaningful reason from the administration for not releasing the report on the banks and the findings of the forensic study, and (2) the administration’s plan to deal with the critical situation at our two local banks. After all, in the recent election campaign, the AUF platform dished out harsh criticism of the AUM government’s handling of the banking crisis, and stated that the AUF had the report, and that the solution was, after all, quite easy. Therefore, to say that we were disappointed that another opportunity was lost to have open dialogue on the matter, is a gross understatement.
Consequently, the AUM wishes to put on record our concern as it relates to the banking crisis and making public the banking report and the findings of the forensic study. If the Minister of Finance, the Leader of the AUF, is not in possession of either of these documents, then he should be man enough to retract his platform’s criticism of the AUM government on the banking situation, and admit that his platform was telling blatant lies for the sake of mere politicking, or, as he calls it, political exuberance.
Other than that, we, the people of Anguilla, would have no choice but to feel great uneasiness over what we must consider an unnecessary, prolonged silence and inflicted uncertainty. We would have no choice but to consider the Minister of Finance needlessly intransigent, bent on refusing to give the people any plausible statement on what his administration considers to be the way forward. Or maybe it is good politics to prolong telling the shareholders of NBA and CCB what their shares are actually worth.
For the last five years that his party was in Opposition and he was not even elected, Mr. Banks had more than a mouthful to say every week in The Anguillian. What are we to make of his strange silence and evasive tactics now that his party is in government and he is both the Leader of Government business as well as the Minister of Finance? He is aware that the banking issue is a burning issue, affecting all Anguillians, and the people’s business should be done with the great urgency it duly deserves. It has taken so long since April 22, 2015 to get some word on the banking situation that the AUM think it fitting to register our concerns with Her Excellency, Governor Christina Scott, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and Ministers in the United Kingdom Government (UKG).
While some may question what authority we have to pursue this issue, it must be recognized that over 50% of eligible voters living in Anguilla voted for the AUM, and their voices must be heard. However, we do not wish to make a mere political statement, but rather to reiterate the concerns of the Anguilla people in a nonpartisan and apolitical manner.
The matter before us has grave national consequences and requires that all heads come together (not just a ‘restricted few’ behind closed doors) to seek out a resolution as a single country, and not a country divided according to party ideology. Let me point out here that it is the people’s democratic right, no matter what the resolution, that it must have their approval by way of a referendum.
The AUM is prepared and willing to join forces with this administration and other stakeholders to find an amicable resolution that gives equity to all Anguillians. And that resolution must not bring hardship to any single person who lodged his/her money in good faith in our local banks and made no contribution to the distressed state of the banks.
It can never be overstated that our two indigenous banks, NBA and CCB, are in crisis mode and are in dire need of rescue. The way to do this, I repeat, is through open dialogue followed by a referendum and not, as seems to be the administration’s chosen method, by deploying incompetent surrogates to propagate misinformation and gauge public opinion. There is no need to test the waters. It is no secret that the waters are troubled. The administration can rest assured that the people of Anguilla are fully conscious of the precarious position in which depositors and shareholders find themselves.
As I said on a previous occasion, it is beyond belief how a country with so few people could get to a situation that was so bad that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and other banking authorities would need to come in and dismiss all the directors of the two indigenous banks and, nearly two years later, the ECCB is still trying to make sense of what happened at these two institutions. If we are to believe the propaganda, the banking crisis is as a result of mismanagement by the directors of the banks and exorbitant borrowing by a select few, who subsequently could not service these loans. How many of the former directors have non-performing loans? Didn’t some of these directors approve decisions to foreclose on many Anguillians’ homes while they, themselves, were in default? Of note, some of the same directors, whether elected or appointed to boards, are deciding on the resolution of the banking crisis. Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Wouldn’t they stick it to the people of Anguilla to save their own skins and that of their family, friends and party affiliates?
The people of Anguilla need to keep the following facts in mind:
1. The banks were created for the purpose of the people of Anguilla. The ECCB had to come in because these banks, run by some Anguillians, were in trouble. The sad reality is that it is money that belonged to all the honest, hardworking people of Anguilla that made up a significant amount of the deposits in these banks.
2. The former Minister of Finance, Mr. Hubert Hughes, raised his concerns about the banks in several discussions with the UK Government. Those discussions revealed that the UKG shared his concerns and wanted to make certain that such a situation never happened again.
3. In July 2014, Mr. Hughes requested that, in addition to working hand in hand with him on a resolution strategy, the UKG commission a report on what caused the instability of the banks, and do a forensic study. The report and the findings of the study were to be made public, so that the people themselves could see what happened. It was agreed that DFID would underwrite the cost of the forensic study and that it would commission that study immediately.
On this premise, as Leader of the AUM, I want it to be known that we deem it imperative that the present administration make the report on the banks and the findings of the forensic study available to the people of Anguilla.
This is too grave a matter to be manipulated by one administration succeeding the next. This is a moral issue. Besides that, this is a matter of good governance. I therefore call upon Her Excellency, Governor Christina Scott, who is responsible for good governance in Anguilla, to ensure that it is exercised honourably, just as she would have done if an AUM administration was in government.
We call on all our social partners, civil society, youth groups, women’s organizations, the churches – the Anguilla Christian Council and the Evangelical Association – to make their input in a meaningful, constructive dialogue on this issue. The voice of the Church needs to be heard on this moral issue, as it was prior to the general election.
The people must know what they face and they must have a choice. As shown in Scotland, and recently in Greece, the collective will of the people must be determined by referendum. The people of Anguilla must be given a chance to choose the solution they think is the best for their banks, and one they can be bound by.
Mr. Banks must make certain guarantees that would calm our anxieties and let those guarantees be known. We again call on him as the Chief Minister and Minister of Finance to break the silence, stop hiding behind evasive statements, and guarantee that
1. The banking report and the forensic report will be made available to the public since nearly all Anguillians have their money in the two indigenous banks and they have a right to know what went wrong with their banks.
2. There will be no new or increased taxes, including a land tax, imposed on the residents of Anguilla to bail out NBA and CCB.
3. The Social Security Fund, which serves as a safety-net for many sick, unemployed, retired or poor Anguillians, will not be used to bail out the banks.
4. All of the deposits in the banks are safe and will be protected, and depositors will not take haircuts or be expected to bail-in.
5. There will be a referendum on any decision to pull Anguilla away from the ECCB because no one man/woman or seven men/women should have the authority to take that major step.
Mr. Banks, the people of Anguilla need concrete answers and they need them, not in any indefinite time period of “a few weeks”, but NOW.
Thank you and God bless Anguilla.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
