Mr. Carlton Pickering, of the Anguilla Chamber of Commerce and Industry, asked the following question to Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks:
“Can you give us an update on what is happening with the local banks?”
The Chief Minister replied as follows:
“As far as the local banks are concerned, it is a work in progress. As you know, the resolution took place on April 22, 2016 and the National Commercial Bank is still operating. It is increasingly providing the services that a bank should provide and the Government is giving all the necessary support to make that happen. There are, of course, some concerns within the private sector because this has been a very challenging exercise. I have said from the very beginning that perfection should not be the enemy of the good. If we had spent a lot of time trying to get everything right, we would not have been in a position today that the indigenous banking sector is still in place – and is still the number one banking institution in the country.
“The customers have to be thanked for their loyalty and support. The bank continues to do well but we continue to have challenges. I said we because the bank is owned by the Government of Anguilla but its operations, and so forth, are being done by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and also by the Management and Board. I think that the bank will continue to improve, and I am sure the customers are feeling much more comfortable with the way it is going today.
“There are some ongoing issues that need to be resolved. Of course, the resolution has not been fully implemented. There are certain aspects of it that are still going through, and there are certain facilities that have been put in place to make sure that the bank survives. The Government of Anguilla has put over three hundred million EC dollars in that exercise and I think it has ensured that the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla works. We continue to monitor the progress and I must say that its services are improving and the confidence in the bank is growing.”
