In the wake of Bank of The Bahamas’s 2015 Annual Report and its announcement of ongoing financial troubles, Dr. Hubert Minnis, Leader of the Free National Movement (FNM), is calling for immediate action. The Bank’s chairman who admitted, “that political considerations influenced lending decisions,” especially troubled Dr. Minnis. He said the first steps to restoring confidence and credibility in the Bank’s operations are a thorough forensic audit and full disclosure by all Members of Parliament of any secured or unsecured loans they have received from the financially troubled bank.
“When will our Government learn? The signs weren’t hard to read - the Bank of The Bahamas has reported over $100 million in losses since the PLP returned to office in 2012. Now the chairman is publicly acknowledging that political influence is behind some of BOB’s lending decisions,” decried Dr. Minnis. “The people cannot be expected to continue bailing out the bank.
The time for action is now. First, there needs to be a comprehensive forensic audit of the bank by a reputable, independent firm. Secondly, we cannot have ‘the fox guarding the henhouse’ – every Member of Parliament should provide the people with full disclosure of the nature and extent to which they or their immediate family members have contributed to BOB being in its present perilous financial state. Do they have – or did they receive – a secured or unsecured loans or any other favourable financial considerations from the bank?”
Reports indicate that the Government holds a 65-percent majority stake in the bank, and has been forced to bail it out several times including in 2014 when it set up Resolve Bahamas, the “state-owned and controlled company” that would “assume liability for $100 million” of the bank’s non-performing commercial loans. The Christie Government also paid over $3.1 million in dividends to the Bank’s preference shareholders in the 2015 and 2016 financial years. When questioned last Friday as to whether bank lending decisions were influenced by politics, Bank of The Bahamas chairman – Richard Demeritte a senior member of the PLP – replied “no question” that they were.
“This Government uses the people as their safety net. Instead of fixing the bank they force the people to pay for their mismanagement. Bahamians deserve better, and the first steps to fixing the bank are with transparency and accountability – the time for action is now!” Dr. Minnis concluded.
