(BANK OF SAIPAN) — The Bank of Saipan has new chairman for its board of directors: businessman Jose Ayuyu.
Ayuyu has been on the bank’s board of directors since March 2006. Ayuyu had been the vice president and manager of the Bank of Guam in Hagåtña from 1972-1989.
He is currently the president and principal shareholder in JCA, Inc. which owns and operates the McDonald’s restaurants on Saipan.
Ayuyu was the president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in 1991 and 1998.
Ayuyu graduated from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu in 1975 and was the acting director of commerce and labor for the CNMI under the Carlos Camacho administration.
He was also the vice president and general manager of Hakubotan Saipan Enterprises Inc. in the early 1990s.
The Calvo family from Guam recently purchased the stock held in the bank by the JLH Pacific Trust, a trust established to manage the assets of the only son of long-time resident Larry Hillblom who died in May 1995.
The Calvo family now owns 96 percent of the Bank of Saipan stock.
“The Bank of Saipan is very healthy and profitable,” noted bank president Jon Bargfrede. “Ayuyu brings to the board helpful local insight and a strong business acumen. He will help the bank grow in a conservative and safe way. He is a good spokesman for local businesses and local depositors. He is a real asset to the bank.”