Ingraham: We have to save Bank of The Bahamas

Wed, May 10th 2017, 11:16 AM

Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said yesterday that the next government of The Bahamas will have to deal with the Bank of The Bahamas (BOB) debacle almost immediately after it takes office.
BOB is now embroiled in a court battle to avoid the imposition of a measure by The Central Bank of The Bahamas, its regulator, that would protect its customers.
Ingraham, who was a guest on Guardian Radio talk show "Z Live" with Zhivargo Laing, said he now regrets not selling BOB to Nassau Guardian owners Emanuel Alexiou and Anthony Ferguson, or some other private investor. It was a highly publicized matter when Ingraham jeered The Guardian's owners, saying they were "too greedy" for wanting to purchase the bank.
Now, with the bank facing financial challenges, Ingraham said it is of the utmost importance for the next elected government to bail out BOB and ensure customers and investors are not in danger of losing their money.
"I regret that decision of mine, because had the Bank of The Bahamas been sold to them (Alexiou and Ferguson) or other people, we would not be in the position now where The Bahamas has to find in excess of $100 million of public money to save the bank," said Ingraham. "We have to save Bank of The Bahamas."
Ingraham suggested that the Progressive Liberal Party-led government wrongfully used $50 million in public funds to bail out BOB.
Ingraham also suggested that BOB will have to heed a Central Bank request to sue government officials and former government officials who are in the top 20 in terms of multimillion-dollar arrears on the bank's books.
"The Central Bank has required them to file an action in the Supreme Court against these politically exposed persons," said Ingraham.
"A major decision for a new government will be how to deal with the Central Bank issue right away.
"No government of The Bahamas is going to allow the depositors of a bank to lose their money.
"It is critical for elections to be over and for the government to make a decision on Bank of The Bahamas immediately."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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