GOVERNOR Juan N. Babauta yesterday assured Bank of Saipan depositors that they will recover their money.
He said the government will ask the court today to re-open the beleaguered bank on a limited basis.
Babauta said he met with Attorney General Robert T. Torres and court-appointed receiver Randy Fennell to discuss the plan of action that will be filed in court today.
According to the governor, the audit of the bank’s records and finances is almost complete.
He said all the funds deposited in the bank are “intact.”
“I would like to see the people recover their money. I want to assure the general public that funds deposited in the bank are still there as assured to me by the receiver,” Babauta said.
The government will be able to eventually recover all of its money, he added.
He said once Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan approves their plan of action, the bank’s recovery will be assured.
The CNMI’s total bank assets dropped by $34.8 million or about 5 percent during the first three months of 2002 compared to the same period in 2001 due mainly to the merger of two banks and the significant decline posted by another.
Between January and March this year, the total assets of seven banks stood at $644.259 million, the latest data from the Department of Commerce showed.
This represents a 5 percent decline from the first quarter 2001 level of $679.128 million.
The January to March figure is also the lowest quarterly bank assets since the fourth quarter of 2000.
Acting Commerce Secretary Fermin Atalig yesterday said the $35 million drop in the latest quarterly assets was partly the result of the merger of Union Bank of California and First Hawaiian Bank.
First Hawaiian Bank has taken over Union Bank’s local branch.
Jesse Palacios, director of the Banking Division, said the total bank assets’ drop was also the result of a sharp decline in Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.’s assets, from $103.588 million in the first quarter of 2001 to $86.901 million in the first quarter of 2002.
The reporting banks include Bank of Guam, Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, Bank Pacific, Bank of Saipan, City Trust Bank and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.
Bank assets also dropped by 3 percent or $20 million during the fourth quarter of 2001 compared to the same quarter in 2000.
The CNMI may see further drop in bank assets for the second quarter in light of the multi-million scandal involving the Bank of Saipan.
The Commerce data also showed an 11 percent or $36.401 million drop in total loans during the same period.
From $321.498 million, the total loans went down to 285.097 million as of the first quarter of 2002.
The total deposits between January and March stood at $589.683 million, a drop of 2 percent from the $601.896 million deposits during the first three months of 2001.
