And our final two items tonight are also from the Prime Minister's board spectrum press conference. We asked him about the situation at Choice Bank. It's an offshore Bank which offers financial services to international clients. But, a few weeks ago, it informed customers that it's in a liquidity crisis. It told customers in an email, quote, "the Bank has taken the decision in its view as a matter of necessity, with immediate effect, to temporarily suspend all withdrawals from deposit accounts with the Bank and other outbound payment activities…until the Bank and/or its relevant regulatory authorities are satisfied that such suspension is no longer required."
As Minister of Finance the PM is responsible for the banking sector and we asked him to explain:..
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"As I understand it, it is a regulatory problem only in the sense that the issuer or the backers of the credit cards in which they traffic and in which in the main their deposits are meant to secure withdrew from the relationship with Choice Bank. It seems that the bank does a lot of business with people in the adult entertainment industry. But it seems that regulators in the US might for that reason alone have put some pressure on the issuers of the credit cards in which they dealt and of course that caused a kind of run on the bank. In terms of the people who had their deposits to back up their credit cards and who were told your credit cards can no longer be issued or can no longer be operationalized. So it really is peculiar to them."
"I signed a letter based on the recommendation of the Central Bank giving the Central Bank broader powers than would normally be the case to as it were ensure that the bank's continued operations would be with a view to see all their depositors and customers satisfied."
Update On PM's Bad Back
And, finally tonight, the Prime Minister also updated the public on the condition of his ailing back. He's been seeking treatment for years - but with no success. Now, he's contemplating the possibility of surgery or stem cell therapy; he explained:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I travelled in connection with medical consultations. I want to make clear that those consultations have always been and will continue to be about my informal back difficulties. There is as far as I know absolutely nothing else wrong with me in all other respects I am to use that colorful perhaps somewhat inappropriate expression "as healthy as a horse." I don't know I can compare to a horse. I can hardly walk, much less gallop or run, but please know that is all that has troubled me. I go again next week to consult yet another physician, in terms of respective surgery and stem cell treatment. There - I gave you all my business. I've been considering my options long and hard, because if I do proceed with surgery, that will mean I'll be lay up for quite a while. I'll be out of the country for 2-3 weeks and then even when I come back I will not be able to come into office - something like 3 months. So I'm trying to postpone things as long as possible. If I can in any way avoid surgery, that's what I would want to do. But it is becoming more and more problematic."
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