Just before the adjournment of the meeting of the Anguilla House of Assembly on Wednesday, this week, Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, spoke briefly about the takeover of the island’s two indigenous commercial banks.
He said that Anguilla’s “name was brandished around the world by the intervention of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank into the two banks supported by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Canadian Development International Agency and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
“What we have done, and I have no apologies to make, is to save the banks; rescue the banks because if this rot had continued, the banks would have collapsed – and Britain would have marched in and declare Anguilla a failed state because over 76.5 percent of the banking portfolio are in the hands of the two indigenous local banks. Only 23.5 percent of banking is done by Nova Scotia and First Caribbean – the two foreign banks.
“So the banking in Anguilla is in the hands of the local banks, and we could not afford for those two local banks to go under because if the banks went under, the economy of Anguilla would have collapsed. So the issue here is to save the two local banks.
“I am thankful for those depositors who continue to support these banks because they now see there is a solid effort to stabilise the banks and to make sure that they survive.
“Ever since we came in Government…we have been urging the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to do something about the serious discrepancies that were coming through these two local banks. It took quite a while before they moved, and I am really grateful and thankful that at long last, after they sought assistance from all these international reputable organisations, they have come in now to save those two banks.
“So I can sleep at night simply because Anguilla no longer is under threat of being a failed state because of the failure of the banking system in Anguilla.”
