fp Turks and Caicos

“We still think we can save it,” Anthony Kikivarakis told nearly 100 people gathered at a public meeting announced a little more than 24 hours before it was held June 2 at 6 p.m. He and Mark Munnings, partners at Deloitte & Touche Bahamas, were appointed to evaluate the bank’s assets, consider buyout offers and report to Turks and Caicos Supreme Court Justice Richard Williams on what should become of the troubled local bank.

Kikivarakis said the justice instructed the liquidators to do everything possible to save the bank, which was closed by court order April 9, instead of selling off the bank’s assets and giving depositors back less than what they had in the bank. A hearing on what will happen is set for July 14-15.

The liquidators are still fielding proposals from groups offering to buy the bank, for which a deadline of June 18 was recently set by Justice Williams. The deadline was extended from the original June 4th date to allow more time to consider buyout offers, Kikivarakis said. But he said all legitimate proposals will be considered up until the final hearing in July.

Kikivarakis assured creditors any information passed on to interested investors is sanitized, so that no names or account numbers are shared. He also explained that anyone who requests information must first pass a Deloitte & Touche background check in order to ensure they are serious. “To get this bank started again, it will require a serious cash injection,” he said. “They must be serious, must be real and their money must be real.”

He also pointed out that anyone interested in taking over the bank must have the approval of the National Insurance Board, currently the largest single stakeholder in the bank with an estimated $17 million in now frozen deposits.

A group of local creditors which says it holds more than $12 million in bank assets has spoken out against the liquidators, claiming they do not have the small creditors’ best interests at heart. Maxferd Gordon “Solie” Williams, a representative of the committee, said his group wants the liquidators removed from the proceedings.

“I am not your adversary,” Kikivarakis told Williams and other members of the creditors at the meeting. He informed the creditors they need to formalize themselves as a group and should get a lawyer and ask to be recognized by the court so their voices would be heard in any decisions the justice makes. He also offered to help in that process and said he is happy to work with them once they have formalized themselves.

“We do not want to shut anybody out,” he said.

A number of people at the meeting were upset that while they were likely to lose money they had in the bank, liquidators would be getting their full pay. Kikivarakis said his company charges standard rates for its work which must be approved by the court.

Some even suggested the liquidators would rather liquidate because they would make more money that way, but Kikivarakis said that was no consideration. “I would rather see the bank saved that to go into liquidation,” he said.

When asked why he took on the task, knowing their was a deal about to be signed to save the bank, Kikivarakis answered he was not informed by the FSC or Justice Williams of any deal that was close to being closed.

There are still many issues to sort out with the bank, he told the public forum as several individuals raised questions with regards to unpaid bank drafts and loans, “This bank had problems, that is why we are in the position we are in,” he said and if a buyer for the bank can not be found it short order, it appears the end result will be years in the making.