By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
A prominent Bank of the Bahamas (BOB) investor said its new Board had inspired a "fair degree of confidence" over the institution's future, although he reiterated concerns about its management.
Darron Cash, the former FNM chairman and Senator, told Tribune Business there remained a need for leadership changes at the management level. He raised the point during Wednesday night's annual general meeting (AGM), saying he was "extremely curious" about the composition of the executive management team.
Speaking to the new BOB Board, Mr Cash said: "I think that the composition of the Board inspires a fair degree of confidence in the potential future for the bank. There are persons with meaningful banking background, accomplished persons. That is very good in terms of the likelihood that you would have a meaningful impact.
"They did not reveal a lot of detail, but I think a lot of people appreciate that they have only been on the job for a matter of weeks. What was clear was that the Board seems to be tackling head on issues of government policies for dealing with the bank, and that provides some hope for the bank's continued survival.
"The second thing is the bank's relationship with the Central Bank. I applaud the chairman for speaking candidly on some of the issues between the bank and the regulator, and the fact that the bank has done some things to lower the temperature between the two and address some concerns with regards to capital adequacy ratios."
Mr Cash added that those two areas are significant issues which impact the long-term survival of the bank. "I think that the information provided at the AGM was encouraging, and the fact that the Board appears to have started to take those matters in hand," he said.
Mr Cash added that BOB's executive leadership was also an issue of concern for himself and several other shareholders. "In fairness, the chairman was rightfully non-committal to specific action, but forthright on the issue of executive leadership and the fact that it will get crucial attention from the new Board," he said. "We made no secret of our view that we felt that changes need to be made at the executive level."
Comments
sheeprunner12 7 years, 4 months ago
If this FNM government wants to really boost public confidence in BOB (and all of its other quasi-government entities) ........ it will sell off MORE shares to the public ....... starting with BTC, BPL, Arawak Port, Bahamasair, NFS etc. ......... It is time to get the BILLION dollars that Bahamians have saved in the commercial banks into shares that they can make profits off ..... The banks are not interested in offering any interests on savings or CDs etc.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 4 months ago
Repost: Most of us were elated to learn that Wayne Aranha (a highly experienced official liquidator of banks) and Tony Allen (a well-seasoned senior banker) had been appointed to the board of BoB, that is, until we very recently learned that Minnis and KP have foolishly elected to continue with the failed Bahamas Resolve bailout model that was created by the corrupt Christie-led PLP government. Aranha and Allen cannot possibly believe keeping BoB's doors open to the public is a good thing, and it is beyond comprehension that these two reputable professionals have apparently not advised our new government to arrange for BoB to be liquidated at the earliest possible time. BoB is undeniably insolvent for all intents and purposes because continued taxpayer support of its affairs is an unsustainable option. BoB needs to be shutdown to (1) prevent access by the racketeering numbers' bosses to a licensed bank for what the global financial community rightfully perceives to be money-laundering purposes, and (2) get our government out of the banking business with all of its attendant moral hazards. It seems Aranha and Allen have unwittingly allowed themselves to become part of the overall BoB problem for taxpayers and the non-government stakeholders alike. Armed with all of the information about BoB's affairs that has been in the public domain for quite sometime now, these two professionals should have conditioned the acceptance of their BoB directorships on BoB being liquidated in the very near term. Even better still, given their backgrounds they should have advised Minnis and KP that all legitimate stakeholders (including the taxpayers) would be better served by their appointment as official liquidators of BoB. Another golden opportunity has indeed been lost...meanwhile the taxpayers continue to suffer!
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