The people of Anguilla have been given a positive and encouraging assessment of the newly-formed National Commercial Bank of Anguilla (NCBA) by the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, Mr. Timothy Antoine. He was at the time speaking during a radio, television, and print press conference at the Executive Council Chambers on Friday, January 20.
Chief Minister Victor Banks and ECCB Governor Mr. Timothy Antoine
Governor Antoine continued: “I want to make a point that one of the things that should have happened, that has not happened, is the establishment of the Deposit Protection Trust (DPT). Because of an administrative delay, that did not happen last year as planned. However, I am pleased to note that the new Attorney General has been briefed. He has been given all the requisite information… and he has assured us that very soon the DPT will be ready. This is very important for the large depositors of NCBA…who have in excess of 2.8 million dollars. I am pleased to see that progress is going to be made there and I expect that NCBA will soon be talking to the large depositors about this arrangement; and, of course, they will also be expecting a payment when their anniversary date comes up later this year. So that is good news for the large depositors of NCBA.”
Mr. Antoine also shared some additional good news with the media and the people of Anguilla. Responding to a question, he stated: “NCBA is building its capital and, in fact, very soon, we will have some additional capital injected of close to 80/90 million dollars. The Government, through the Caribbean Development Bank, is in fact going to put in an additional amount. Those funds, almost 60 million dollars, are already with the Central Bank and will be released as soon as some additional things have been completed shortly by NCBA.
“In addition to that, some funds, which have been frozen by Bank of America for the last several months, will soon be released. We, the Central Bank, based on discussions we had in Executive Council in December [in Anguilla]… undertook to use our good office to reach out to Bank of America. We did that promptly and we were able to get an agreement signed and the funds will be released soon. Those additional monies will come into NCBA and will certainly improve its capital and make it not just stronger, but in a better position to do business and to operate.”
Among other important points, Mr. Antoine had this to say: “We really see NCBA as a vital pillar in growing the Anguillian economy. The reality is that national banking is important. No one can deny that NBA and CCB played vital roles in the development of the Anguillian economy. There are many Anguillians who will tell you that much of their success is attributed to the fact they were able to do business with NBA and CCB and were able to get ahead.
“It is unfortunate that those banks were not able to survive but in NCBA we have an indigenous bank in Anguilla. Going forward it will be very important for us to rally around NCBA and ensure that it continues to bring benefits to the people of Anguilla. It is very important to understand that, foremost in the minds of not just the Government of Anguilla, but the Mone tary Council, when the design of NCBA was done for the resolution of NBA and CCB, it was for the protection of depositors and a chance for the Anguillian economy to grow. We remain resolute and I give a commitment, as the Governor of the Central Bank, to continue to work with NCBA, the Government of Anguilla, and all concerned, to ensure that we continue to see that Anguilla grows. That is important for Anguilla and it is also important for the Currency Union.”
Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, joined Mr. Antoine at the press conference. He said in part: “As we said from earlier on, this banking resolution is a work in progress. The whole resolution process has a lot of moving parts…but at the end of the day the objectives remain the same: to ensure that customers’ deposits are secured; that Anguilla maintains an indigenous banking sector; that there is some level of security for persons employed at the bank to the extent that that is possible; and to enable the development of a strong and stable economy and banking sector in Anguilla. That is a prerequisite for the growth and development of Anguilla.”
