February 17, 2020
To: Hon. Victor Banks, Premier, Government of Anguilla
To: Mr. Gary Moving, Receiver NBA/CCB
Dear Sirs:
It has been brought to my attention that various individuals across the community of Anguilla are in receipt of written communication indicating that their account(s) which have been on the books of the National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA) for the past three years and nine months, have now been placed on the books of the Receiver.
It is of interest to observe the manner in which these loan accounts are now being arbitrarily switched between the Receiver and the NCBA. This begs the question as to what guided the decisions made between the period of April 22, 2016 when the banks were placed into Receivership and immediately thereafter ‘resolved’ on April 25, 2016.
It is paramount that the financial confidence that the local bankers had worked hard to establish prior to 2013, and remained intact over the period of 2013 – 2016, be restored. This of course was clearly impacted by the decisions taken on the weekend referenced prior and I posit that the manner in which the banks were ‘resolved’ have had a marked impact on the financial stability of Anguilla. I also note with interest, the guidance outlined in the Banking Act 2015, Part X Receivership and Compulsory Liquidation, Section 138 (2).
A receiver appointed under this Part shall liquidate the licensed financial institution or licensed financial holding company for which it has been appointed receiver and wind up its affairs in an orderly manner that minimizes any risk to financial stability, minimizes disruption to depositors, and, consistent with the preceding goals, maximizes the value of the assets of the licensed financial institution or licensed financial holding company.
Furthermore, Section 142 General Powers of Receiver (4) expressly states that,
A receiver shall not take any deposits and shall make no loans except to extend funds for the protection of collateral assets where necessary.
We therefore seek to understand under what authority the Receiver was made recipient of deposits belonging to the people of Anguilla in the form of the Anguilla Social Security Board term deposits and term deposits belonging to the employees of the Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Limited and the National Bank of Anguilla Limited, that were transferred from the books of the resolved institutions, separate and distinct to all other deposits. Under what premise were these deposits transferred to the Receiver when by virtue of the aggregate deposit value, they should have otherwise been transferred to the Depositor Protection Trust?
Indeed it is becoming increasingly apparent that there was no intent to avail the shareholders of the resolved entities any opportunity to safeguard their interests, as there was absolutely no notice given and no option provided to the shareholders, the general public of Anguilla or known parties of interest an opportunity to purchase the entities placed in Receivership and by extension entrusted to your care by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank on April 22, 2016.
By virtue of Section 150 Determination of Claims (2) you had a fiduciary duty to inform the stakeholders of the Receivership which could not have been accomplished given that the sale was finalized and effected within one (1) business day with the resolution going into effect on April 25, 2016.
Any sale of the licensed financial institution or licensed financial holding company assets shall be accomplished in a transparent and reasonable manner.
As it relates to the matter at hand, with pending foreclosures on the horizon it appears that no consideration has been given to the provisions outlined in the Banking Act with respect to the pensioners who are in the truest sense of the word, depositors. Section 150 Determination of Claims (4) provides that,
If a depositor owes the licensed financial institution an amount for a matured or past-due loan, that amount shall be set off against the deposit amount owed by the licensed financial institution.
Yet there are various former employees of the resolved financial institutions who have been served default notices and/or foreclosure notices, notwithstanding they have pension entitlements sufficient and above to satisfy the amount owing and due. This is the very essence of inhumanity and creates undue pressure, stress and emotional strain for the parties impacted.
In addition, there are other employees who may not currently be in a state of delinquency, but who could also be facilitated, were they given an opportunity to exercise the provision of Section 150 Determination of Claims (5) that offers,
If a depositor owes the licensed financial institution an amount for a loan and the loan is not matured or past-due, then, at the sole option of the depositor, the amount owed may be set-off against the deposit amount owed by the licensed financial institution.
Here again, those employees who worked diligently for ten (10), fifteen (15), twenty (20) and in some cases over thirty (30) years are being severely defrauded. We trust that you will address this issue with urgency and bring about an amicable solution to alleviate the undue stress and hardships that are being imposed. They all deserve to live free and comfortable lives, because they have worked and earned their money to do so.
We anticipate your timely reply to all the observations discussed herein as many households across our island community are being severely impacted by these impending foreclosures.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sincerely,
Ellis Lorenzo Webster
Leader, Anguilla Progressive Movement
cc. Media
