Silver bank supervision expanded

The Bank of Mauritius announced last February that it would be placed under regulation, with Arvind Gokhool as its chief financial officer. “Conservative”Los Angeles Bank, formerly Banyan Tree, Don’t The Express There have been numerous reports of violations. Six months later, we wanted to take stock…

According to our calculations, the custody that the silver bank has accepted since February 13, 2024 should end on August 11, 180 days after accepting the supervision of the Bank of Mauritius (BoM). This is the provision of Article 67 of the General Civil Law. Banking LawUnless the BoM board «To be decided later». We therefore asked whether the central bank had made other decisions or whether the regulation of silver banks had actually ended. Response, text: “Silver Bank Limited has been placed under administration to preserve, protect and recover any assets of the bank for the benefit of its depositors and creditors. As of now, this process is still ongoing.” So has the guardianship been extended? We tried to understand. Unfortunately, the replies are closed: “It’s still open.” Is BoM afraid to use the word anger?

We still don’t know the specific reasons why the Bank of India was regulated. On May 7, Finance Minister Renganaden Padayachy, in response to a question from Arvin Boolell in Parliament, invoked the Banking Secrecy Act. The Labour MP specifically wanted to know whether the central bank had provided an advance loan to the bank. Although the central bank and the finance minister never specified the reason for the regulation, Section 65 of the Act Banking Law It stipulates that this must be done when the relevant bank no longer has sufficient capital, among other reasons.

Since it was revealed that there were outstanding debts of over Rs. 7.7 billion before the trusteeship, we have reason to believe that Silver Bank’s capital is no longer at a level that would allow it to operate. Banking LawArticle 66 gives the Director the mission “To collect all monies and debts due…”.

Has Arvindsingh Gokhool, curator at Grant Thornton, been looking for outstanding debts in the past six months? If yes, how much outstanding debts has he been able to recover? We wanted to ask him whether the supervision has been stopped and whether customer deposits are still frozen. When we contacted him, he told us that he was busy and would get back to us later. But he did not do so.

It is worth noting that if the trusteeship does not lead to rectification of the situation, in other words, if Arvindsingh Gokhool fails to make the bad debtors pay, Silver Bank will be liquidated under Section 69 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Banking LawUnless he has found a buyer or is waiting to find one who is willing to provide funds to repay the Rs 770 crore debt. “It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a bank that could service such a large debt for such a small bank.”.

As for depositors, they are still waiting for the registrar to send them a press release informing them whether they will be able to withdraw their deposits, most of which will mature soon. They will learn from this article that they still have to wait.

A well-respected manager

A local manager of IndBank, who himself disbursed most of the Rs 7.7 billion in loans, remains in office. Unlike other executives, he has been authorized to continue working from the bank premises, rather than from home. He will be supporting Arvindsingh Gokhool. He does not look worried, but rather very happy. He has every reason to be, we are told, as his wife has just been hired by a real estate company that has benefited from his largesse. The company borrowed money to invest in… Croatia. And is no longer repaying the loan. Apparently, at IndBank, the world has turned upside down: whistleblowers are fired, while unslick managers are rewarded.