With a record number of police officers in and outside the Anguilla House of Assembly, to quell any disturbance from opposing members of the Concerned Citizens Group, the first reading was given to the controversial Banking Bill 2015 on Monday morning, November 16.
The reading – in the hushed Assembly, a far cry from the overwhelming disturbance a week ago, when protesters stopped the reading of the Bill – followed an address by the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Palmavon Webster; the delivery of an amended statement (edited by the Speaker, Mr. Leroy Rogers) by the Reverend Dr. H. Clifton Niles on behalf of the Concerned Citizens; and an address by the Chief Minister and Leader of Government Business, Mr. Victor Banks, who, like the previous meeting of the House, moved the reading of the Bill.
The Speaker said he was fulfilling an undertaking, given at a press conference following the disturbance on Monday, November 9, to allow a representative of the Concerned Citizens to deliver a statement, approved by him, at the next meeting of the House of the House of Assembly. It was out of that undertaking that the Rev. Dr. Niles, escorted by Mrs. Lena Lloyd, one of the concerned persons, stepped forward to deliver his statement.
He said as follows: “Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make this amended statement to the Honourable House of Assembly on behalf of the people of Anguilla, many of whom are assembled on the outside. On Monday, 9th November 2015, the people of Anguilla made their voice heard thus resulting in the adjournment of this Honourable House of Assembly and preventing the first reading of the Bill for the Banking Act 2015.
“We apologise to the Speaker, and the House, for this abrupt disruption and we trust that in the future it will not be necessary to have a repetition.
“It is our view that the Banking Bill strikes at the heart of fundamental rights and freedoms that democratic countries and peoples all over the world hold dear, including the people of Anguilla, for almost two centuries. Additionally, it will introduce several changes to our culture and way of life. Mr. Speaker, were it not for the action of the Concerned Citizens Group on 9th November 2015, which prevented the first reading of the Bill, all of these fundamental and exceedingly far-reaching changes might well have been imposed upon us without the people being made aware of the ways in which their lives would have been impacted.
“Because the Banking Bill 2015 is such a profound and transformative document, Mr. Speaker, ‘consultation’ as it relates to the Bill must be more than explaining why the Bill is necessary or talking about it or simply informing them of its contents. The consultation stage must be given adequate time and must include an in-depth analysis of the various sections of the Bill, clause by clause, in order to be absolutely clear about the meaning and implication of each clause, for individuals and groups, for the government, and for the island as a whole. In addition, the consultation which this Bill requires calls for the meaningful involvement of our best legal minds, accountants, bankers, and other professionals to ensure that the consultation is comprehensive and complete and that the concerns raised by the people have received adequate attention and that there is maximum people buy in.
“The Concerned Citizens Group, on behalf of the people of Anguilla, strongly urge Anguilla’s political leaders to properly consult with the people of Anguilla on the various concerns and issues raised, and to amend the Bill accordingly to address all these concerns before bringing this Bill to the Honourable House for a first reading.
“The Concerned Citizens Group, on behalf of the people of Anguilla, therefore strongly request our Honourable Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, to withdraw the Bill and not present it in its present form to this Honourable House for the first reading.
“May wisdom and common sense prevail.”
The Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Palmavon Webster, said in part: “What I have to say will please no one who continues to support either of our main political parties; nor will it bring me popularity with many, but it has to be said. Our politicians have all failed us. The problems with the banks did not just pop up in recent weeks. The Chief Minister himself reminds us that it is upwards of two years and seven months that we have been dealing with these issues. The ECCB’s conservatorship was imposed in August 2013 and the AUM Government of the day had nearly two years to devise or arrive at a workable solution. Instead, they devoted much of their energy to seeking to whip up enthusiasm for Anguilla to become independent instead of recognising that although Anguilla is an island – to prosper, it must also subscribe to the world order. Whether we like it or not, and in pursuit of their priorities, they, like the present Government, concealed the true nature of the problems of our banking crisis…from the electorate in my view.
“Our current AUF Government have had more than six months to come to grips with it; and by the time they were elected in 2015 they should have had a plan – they said they did. But instead it has become an even more catastrophic problem in the words of the Chief Minister himself…Since the first of June I have urged the Chief Minister openly to give a commitment to consult with the people of Anguilla and to engage them…and it took us a long time to get to that decision…Mr. Chief Minister, I want to help you in bringing and sharing this information to the people of Anguilla. We need to get to the right decision together.” She charged that the Government had “declined to give a full explanation as to why they consider it expedient to pass the Banking Bill; and especially why they consider it necessary to do it at break-neck speed and under a cloak of secrecy.”
She said that in recent days the Government, pressured by the people, had embarked on a series of consultations “but with no sense of humility for having failed to do so sooner, and with grotesque arrogance in the face of criticisms.”
Replying to some of the comments, Mr. Banks prefaced his address by saying to the Speaker: “I have listened to the statements made by the Leader of the Opposition and the representative for the Concerned Citizens Movement. It just goes to show that democracy is alive and well in Anguilla. This Honourable House, as one of the speakers on the talk shows pointed out the other day, is a cathedral democracy; and we welcome people to this House to observe that process. But typically, Mr. Speaker, it is not a participatory exercise for those persons who have come from the wider community to sit with us in this House and hear the debate and discussions that take place…When you indicated that you will have an address being made by the Concerned Citizens Group on the Bill, I willing acceded…bearing in mind that there were some statements to which I had some concerns. I believe in terms of what was read we were able to convince the presenter to remove those statements. One of the key things I asked was an apology from the Concerned Citizens for the conduct that took place in this Honourable House. It was not acceptable that we could read a statement in this Honourable House and not make mention of the inappropriate conduct that took place in this House…”
About the address by the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister stated: “There is one thing that I have not heard in her presentation: Why it is important that the Government of Anguilla needs a resolution to the domestic banking issue urgently? I don’t believe that people recognise the threshold – the precipice – that we are in danger of falling off if we do not progress speedily with the resolution of this banking crisis. And I didn’t hear anything in her presentation about the importance of ensuring that our customers’ deposits in the banks are secured. I did not hear enough about that. I heard about the Banking Bill. It is a Bill, like every other Bill, that comes to this House. It is never perfect and it is never complete. Legislation is a dynamic process where there is an opportunity, as we go forth, in this Honourable House, to adjust and amend the legislation to match the concerns of the people.
“No Bill that comes to this House is cast in stone. This particular Bill has been passed in every territory of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank because we have pledged ourselves, by agreement, that our regulator will be the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. As part of that agreement, we have agreed that there should be uniformed legislation to effect that – and the process of that uniformed legislation can only be with an exchange of the technicians, the legal draft persons, the accountants and other persons in the various territories having their input in the drafting of that legislation. It also engaged experts from international agencies responsible for regulation, agencies which point out areas where we need to be compliant, where we need to participate as a jurisdiction in international financial transactions.”
The Chief Minister continued: “People are concerned about the Banking Bill because they have been told that it is a dangerous Bill, that it is going to take away their land and for all other reasons. Most of them do not know that this Banking Bill is actually an amendment or a replacement for a Banking Bill which already exists; and which has some of the very same provisions that persons are expressing concerns about. In fact, there is not a lot new in this Banking Bill that was not in the past one. There are some concerns that can be pointed out, but every draft provision that is put in a Bill is put there for mere context. And there is a reason why six other territories in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union have agreed that this Bill does no violence to their sovereignty because of the overwhelming importance for…our jurisdictions to be compliant with international standards and guidelines so that our people can transact business across national borders.”
Mr. Banks drew attention to one example where regulation of the banks through the Banking Bill was of much importance: “Are you related to the person to whom you are lending a loan? In another case, you can have a director, or a large shareholder, or a very [leading] person in the community who is borrowing millions of dollars and you [the ordinary people] don’t get the same treatment. These are the things that the banking regulations are trying to put into the legislation so that we can deal with these things in a dispassionate way. There’s got to be equity in the system.
“…There is no question that it is known that fifty percent of the loans the banks in Anguilla are non-performing and the prudential level needs to be five percent,” the Chief Minister went on. He noted “that because of the latitude given in the loan process, and because of the financial situation we have, there are people with loans that are in trouble.” He stressed: “We have to protect the depositors; and we cannot protect those depositors if we have fifty percent non-performing loans and we don’t do anything positively to turn those loans around so that they [become] performing – not to sell off the people’s assets – but to turn [the loans] around and make them perform as best we can, because it has to happen.”
He added: “Mr. Speaker, of those non-performing loans, there are four persons/entities alone that owe over 160 million dollars to the bank[s] and are not performing on their loans for close to three years. We are in a situation which we have to fix with urgency to support the depositors/the customers who contributed to the banks. That’s why we are anxious to get it done. This Banking Bill is a step to achieve that.”
Following his address, the Chief Minister called on the Clerk of the House of Assembly, Mr. Joash Proctor, to read the Banking Bill for the first time.
Before the reading of the Bill, the Speaker told the parliamentarians: “You heard the objection by the Leader of the Opposition and the address by the Chief Minister. Those who are in favour of not reading this Bill, today, say I.”
There was a hushed silence from both sides of the House, and from the assembled crowd in the gallery, as well as those who listened to, and viewed, the proceedings under a tent outside the House.
“Those in favour of reading this Bill, today, say I.”
“I” came the overwhelming response from the Government side of the House.
When asked why she remained silent, the Leader of the Opposition, who sat with the Second Nominated Member, Mr Paul Harrigan, said she had already indicated her objection to the Bill during her address. She explained she did not say ‘no’ when the vote was taken as she was mindful of promoting unison among the people.
The Bill was read by the Clerk as follows: “The Banking Bill 2015, first reading. A Bill to provide for the regulation of banking business, the establishment of a single banking space, and for incidental and related matters; and the repeal of the Banking Act RSA cb11.”
The House was adjourned until Thursday, November 19.
Meanwhile, both the Speaker, Mr. Leroy Rogers, and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison, told media representatives they were grateful to the concerned citizens for not disturbing the House of Assembly as they did on Monday, November 9. Later, the Commissioner of Police observed in a written statement:
“The Royal Anguilla Police Force commends you for the dignified way you conducted yourselves both inside and outside the Anguilla House of Assembly today, Monday 16th November, 2015 during the first reading of the Anguilla Banking Act. It shows that democracy is alive and well in Anguilla and the importance and the effect of peaceful protest.
“The RAPF will continue to safeguard your rights as enshrined in the Anguilla Constitution provided those rights are exercised within the context of the said Constitution and the Laws of Anguilla.”
