fp Turks and Caicos

After nine years of service, Sandy Lightbourne is stepping down as chairman of the Turks and Caicos Islands Financial Services Commission at the end of March.

Lightbourne will be replaced by Errol Allen (pictured at left), former deputy governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, His Excellency the Gov. Gordon Wetherell announced Feb. 22.

“Mr. Lightbourne informed me some time ago of his wish to step down, and indicated that he thought it right to leave somewhat earlier to enable his successor to oversee implementation of the recommendations of reviews currently in train from the start,” the governor said. “He agreed, however, to remain in position until a suitable successor could be found.”

Allen, born in St. Vincent, will be tasked with guiding the next phase of the FSC’s continuing development, the governor said.

The FSC has been reviewing its operation and actions in the closure of the troubled TCI Bank Ltd. The bank was buckling under a large number of non-performing loans and several large withdrawals were made just before it was closed in April.

The commission asked the court to put the bank into provisional liquidation to prevent a run on the bank and to save what assets were left. Several offers were made to save the bank, but Justice Richard Williams decided in October to order the bank into full liquidation, meaning thousands of customers will get only pennies on the dollar for their deposits. Shareholders likely will receive nothing.

The FSC is also preparing to increase fees for registering and renewing trademarks and business names to bring those fees closer to the levels charged elsewhere in the region.

Allen was educated in the U.K. and holds a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Economics from the University of London, and a Master of Science Degree in International Economics from the University of Surrey.

Allen worked for a period in the United Kingdom government service following his graduation before returning to the Caribbean to take up a position with the Guyana Development Corporation in 1972.

In 1974 he joined the then East Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCA) in Barbados as manager of the Research Department before the Institution moved to St. Kitts in 1975. He received Executive Management Training at the London Business School and attended Specialist Training Courses in Banking and Finance at the Bank of England and International Monetary Fund. He also spent a year with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a Special Appointee.

Allen was appointed deputy governor in 1983 when the institution was upgraded to a Central Bank, and became the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. He is also the president of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Banking and Financial Services and Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Banking and Financial Institutes. Allen retired from the bank on March 31, 2005.