The Anguilla House of Assembly had a very busy day on Tuesday, this week, September 6, but was able to dispense with its full agenda by late afternoon.
Among the agenda items was a Motion which was piloted through the Assembly by Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks. It was perhaps one of the final undertakings to satisfy the requirements of the resolution of the banking sector and, in particular, the financing of the new Bridge Bank known as the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA).
The financing for the Bridge Bank is to be provided by the Caribbean Development Bank. Addressing the House of Assembly, Mr. Banks stated: “Section 7 (1) of the Caribbean Development Bank Act authorises the Honourable Minister of Finance to borrow, on behalf of the Government of Anguilla, a loan of 59 million, 400 thousand dollars in Eastern Caribbean Currency, to capitalise the Bridge Bank as part of the banking resolution.”
Mr. Banks continued: “Mr. Speaker, I have listened to comments in the wider community that this is a new measure that has been introduced by the Government of Anguilla. This loan for the Bridge Bank has been part of the banking resolution plan under which the National Commercial Bank was established on April 22nd, 2016. A number of people respond to the general issues related to the banking issue, but they never take the time to understand the entire project. This is something that we have been dealing with for a very long time.
“Mr. Speaker, it is an aspect of the resolution as provided for under the new Banking Act. Under the resolution process, a Bridge Bank may be established, and whereas there are requirements for a normal bank to have a certain level of capital…a Bridge Bank can operate without that capital requirement for as long as a year.
“However, Mr. Speaker, in our discussions with the UK Government, even though they understood that this was possible under the New Banking Act and the banking resolution, they made sure that we had begun negotiations with the Caribbean Development Bank for a loan to provide the capitalisation of the bank within the short term. In other words, we were not afforded the opportunity to proceed with the new banking resolution until all these elements were in place. The final element was to get approval from the Caribbean Development Bank that they would provide the funding for the capitalisation of the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla – referred to as the Bridge Bank.”
Now that the House of Assembly has authorised the Minister of Finance to proceed with the loan, it should only be a matter of time before the CDB makes the financing available.
The Motion received the overwhelming support of the House of Assembly, but with the Leader of the Opposition taking her usual non-supporting stance.
Other matters before Tuesday’s meeting of the House included the Immigration and Passport (Amendment) Bill 2016 which was passed; the Control of Employment (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which was returned for public consultation; and the Parole of Prisoners (Amendment) Bill 2016 which received its first reading.
