In his most passionate comments since the banking sector resolution in Anguilla, Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, told Anguillians to ignore irresponsible persons urging them not to support the newly-formed National Commercial Bank of Anguilla – thus allowing it to fail.
Mr. Banks was at the time speaking on the Government’s radio programme Upfront: A Conversation with the Nation. “If the bank fails and the economy fails, the Social Security Fund for all the depositors will fail as well. So every single Anguillian has a responsibility to make sure that the bank succeeds and not fail.”
The Chief Minister pointed out that his Government had addressed the banking crisis affecting NBA and CCB by stepping in with a commitment of over 300 million dollars to save the deposits of customers. He stressed that part of that commitment was to save the Social Security Fund of 200 million plus dollars contributed by workers since the Father of the Nation, James Ronald Webster, established the Social Security Fund.
Mr. Banks continued: “There are a number of persons who want the bank to fail because they believe that if it fails they will be forgiven of their loans. But that is not the case. They will still be liable for those monies they owe…” He emphasised that those persons who were trying to mislead customers were being “intellectually dishonest with the things they are saying; they are totally wrong and only furthering their own selfish and poltical interests.”
The Chief Minister went on: “Right now, NCBA is striving hard to do well – and it will do well with the support of the community. It is your bank…It is your responsibility to make it work for Anguilla: not for me; not for the Anguilla United Front; but for Anguilla – and that is all we are trying to do.”
On the matter relating to the offshore banking sector in which the two former local banks were involved, the Chief Minister had this to say: “The Government of Anguilla made the decision to support the offshore sector of the banks, but our main responsibility is to make sure that the parent bank survives.
“If the parent bank survives, we have the wherewithal to deal with the offshore sector. But when persons out there, for political and selfish reasons are trying to…make moves that can destroy the parent bank, then we have a serious problem. I am concerned about the hypocritical behaviour that is taking place in Anguilla at this time.”
