A release from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s (ECCB) today reported, good news that the Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Ltd (CCB) and the National Bank of Anguilla Ltd (NBA) continued to conduct normal banking operations throughout the two-week period following the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s (ECCB) assumption of the management and oversight of the two banks on August 12.
The ECCB in its release, “expresses sincere thanks to the depositors, creditors and shareholders of the CCB and the NBA for demonstrating confidence in the Anguilla banking system and for their continued support as the Central Bank and the team of professionals from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The World Bank continue to work together to stabilise, strengthen and restructure the banks.”
The Bank Authority also extended thanks to the staff of the CCB and the NBA for their assistance and their invaluable role in maintaining the public’s confidence and loyalty to the banks and to the financial and commercial communities in Anguilla for their cooperation.
While reiterating that it is committed to its mandate of maintaining the stability of the financial system of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), it assures that the Central Bank “continues to advance its efforts to implement the Resolution Strategy for Strengthening the Resilience of the ECCU Financial System.”
While it appeared that there was no resistence or disagreement with the action of the Central Bank’s action against the two indigenous banks, The Anguillan newspaper in its Editorial reported, “that the actions taken have not been well received by everyone, particularly ousted directors and managers.”
The Editorial said, “After all, the fact that the ECCB, IMF and World Bank had to step in does imply that the governance mechanisms of both institutions were unable to successfully navigate these challenging times.”
I
t then reported a direct contrast with Anguilla Chief Minister and the CCB Board of Directors chairman. “Whether as a result of bruised ego or firm conviction, the Chairman of the CCB Board of Directors, Mr. Leslie Richardson, issued a press statement in which he condemned the intervention as unjustified and expressed disappointment that the Honourable Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, supported it.”
Mr. Richardson was quite critical of the ECCB’s actions asserting that the CCB was not experiencing any financial problems. According to him, CCB is not in financial difficulty and the actions of the ECCB are highhanded and unnecessary. The newspaper said: “In his very strong statement, Mr Richardson indicated that the CCB is exploring all legal remedies. He also indicated that there has been constant pressure from the ECCB for the two local banks to merge as part of efforts to stabilise the ECCU and that this is the real reason for the intervention.”
