There was a question and answer period in the Anguilla House of Assembly just prior to the main agenda for the meeting on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The questions were posed by the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Pam Webster to Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks. The questions and answers were as follows:
Question (a)
Whether he or any member of his government involved in the process of resolving the banking crisis, has or have any conflict or conflicts of interest in connection with the Government’s decision to protect depositors to the extent of US$4million and in connection with the treatment of shareholder interests.
Answer:
It is obvious that the Member for Island Harbour has a serious gap in her information regarding the very basic principles of the ECCB policy on the protection of customer’s deposits in the resolution process. This once again suggests that she may not have been paying attention or that I may have wasted time meeting with her as well as taking her to the ECCB meeting in St. Kitts.
Firstly, the idea of protecting customer’s deposits 100% is not a decision of the Government of Anguilla it is the policy of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.
Secondly, customers are protected to the extent of 100% of their deposits not just to US$4 million.
Thirdly, the treatment of shareholder interest is in keeping with the practice used in the resolution of all insolvent financial institutions, namely, their equity stake is only be determined after the customer’s interests have been resolved.
And finally, to respond to what appears to be the core purpose of her question. No member of the Government, including myself, had reason to recuse themselves —given the fact that specific decisions on the technical aspects of the resolution were made by experts from various international and regional agencies. The task of these experts was to ensure that a system was put in place that protected all customer deposits 100%. The determination as to the ceiling for protection in the various entities in the resolution process is purely scientific and designed to ensure that it is both equitable and affordable. Simply put, it is based on a mathematical formulation without reference to personalities or specific interests.
Question (b)
If he or any member of his government has or have had conflicts of interest, what is the nature and extent of such conflicts, and did he or any member of his government recuse themselves from the decision making process on account of such conflict.
Answer:
The last part of the response to the previous question applies. For the reasons stated therein no member of the Government, including myself, had reason to recuse themselves.
