Antigua Commercial Bank (ACB) has opened a multi-million dollar financial centre on the island. Prime Minister Lester Bird attended the opening ceremony, declaring 'I am proud of the Antigua Commercial Bank, proud of what it says about the capacity of Caribbean people, proud about the statement it makes about our nation.'
Antigua Commercial Bank has been on the island since 1955 and has subsidiaries including ACB Investments. Mr Bird said: 'The growth and development of the ACB, and the fact that today it manifests its capacity to look to the future, is living proof of our people's ability in the financial services sector. The world must understand that we are here to stay, and we will fight for our right to a say. Let me repeat it. We are here to stay, and we will fight for our right to a say.'
Mr Bird said that over the years successive Antigua Labour Party (ALP) governments have given full support to the ACB and that his administration is no exception, saying that the government is right behind the endeavours of the ACB to turn itself into one of the leading financial centres in Antigua and Barbuda.
Antigua and Barbuda managed to evade the Financial Action Task Force's list of money laundering blackspots earlier this year but is still plagued by a one and a half year old US financial advisory warning against business transactions with local banks. This obviously rankles with Lester Bird and he used the opening of ACB's new financial centre to once again highlight recent attacks on the Caribbean offshore industry by the G7 nations.
Mr Bird said: 'Our relative strengths in financial services and our ability to compete with them, has caused considerable alarm amongst the larger nations. We must fight to give our ability the chance to flower and to bloom in both the domestic and international capital market. It is not just a cause; it is a just cause. And it is our cause.' Lauding the new development for ACB, Mr Bird continued: 'Long may ACB live, Long may ACB prosper, Long may ACB show the way to our national progress.'
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