BoG asks ‘Guyana Commercial Bank Inc’ to de-register

The Bank of Guyana (BoG) has asked that a company which named and registered itself at the Commercial Registry as ‘Guyana Commercial Bank Incorporated’ de-register as it does not have a banking licence and the name can be classified as false advertising.

“That entity is not a bank and they are not supposed to go and register as a bank…no licences have been given out to any new banks,” a BoG official, who requested anonymity,  told Stabroek News.

Further, the official added, “You are supposed to come in without a name.

The entity was told to remove itself, we asked them to de-register because they do not have a licence.” According to Deeds Registry documents, the Guyana Commercial Bank Incorporated applied for registration on January 20th of this year. Its registration classification is local, status being new with the type of business listed as commercial.

Then in the February 18th 2017 edition of the Official Gazette, a notice of issuance of certification for its incorporation and registration was published.  It is unclear why it was registered by the Deeds Registry as there should have been evidence of a banking licence first.

The Bank lists an address without a lot; Lot Avenue of the Republic, Robbstown Georgetown, Guyana that this newspaper could not find. Checks were made throughout the length of Avenue of the Republic but not only could the company not be found, no one seemed to have heard of it before.

Directors of the Bank are stated as Kadim Khan of Lots 45-46, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown, Aminah McPherson-Damon of 619 Toucan Drive, South Ruimveldt Gardens, also in Georgetown and Marlon Higgins of St Clair Court, St Clair Height, and St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

This newspaper understands that Bank of Guyana is actively assessing the situation since as of last week the company had not heeded to its calls to de-register.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly said that the registration was with the Deeds Registry.