Antigua PM tells Scotiabank no sale without gov’t approval

Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda Gaston Browne

(Antigua Observer) The Bank of Nova Scotia has been stopped from proceeding with any sale of its operations in Antigua and Barbuda until an application is made to the Government and approval given.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, also wants assurances that local banks will be given priority to purchase Scotiabank’s operations in Antigua, and that local persons’ investments and savings will be protected.

Writing today to Suzan Snaggs-Wilson, the General Manager of Scotiabank in Antigua, Prime Minister Browne lamented the fact “that the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia would decide to sell its operations in Antigua and Barbuda without any form of consultation with the regulators or the Finance Minister whose agreement and authority for such a sale are required by law”.