Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, called an urgent press conference on Wednesday, November 28, in which he delivered the following statement about the announcement of the sale of Scotiabank Limited in nine Caribbean islands including Anguilla:
“I was informed by a principal of Scotiabank Anguilla Limited on the afternoon of Monday November 26, 2018 that the Bank had come to an agreement with Republic Finance Holdings Limited (RFHL), subject to regulatory approvals, to sell its banking operations in Anguilla and a number of other branches in the OECS, St Maarten and Guyana.
“I was also told that the information was by way of giving the Ministry of Finance and the Government of Anguilla a “heads up” in advance of formal releases from both parties on Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
“As fiduciary institutions it is expected that such negotiations would take place in the strictest confidence, to include a number of non-disclosure agreements designed to create a level of comfort to both parties as well as a means of protecting their responsibilities to their shareholders and customers.
“Obviously, this news may come as a shock to many persons and I have heard such comments like disrespect and lack of proper courtesies on the part of Scotiabank and the Republic Finance Group. However, we hold the view that such information must be handled discretely given the negative impact that premature announcements could cause to normal banking operations.
“I have noted a number of important points from both releases as follows:
• This decision is in relationship to Scotiabank’s operations in the region — not just Anguilla.
• The Republic Group is a regional corporation whose interests are highly vested in our region.
• Scotiabank has expressed confidence in their ability to look after their customers and employees.
• It will be business as usual until the necessary approvals are in place.
• This agreement should not result in any immediate disruptions to the operations in Anguilla.
• We have noted based on the pricing of the deal that Scotiabank Anguilla appears to have high value to both parties to the agreement.
“The Government of Anguilla understands that it is the right of any company to make business decisions in the interests of its shareholders. In the circumstances we are grateful to Scotiabank for the service it has been providing to this community over the years and look forward with great hope to a successful outcome to the next step of the process in the interest of Anguilla.”
