Choice Bank of Belize faces liquidity problems

[Claudia]

New update https://www.centralbank.org.bz/docs...-choice-bank-limited-v1-20180717.pdf?sfvrsn=2


PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Central Bank Update on Choice Bank Limited
Belize City, 17 July 2018: The Central Bank of Belize wishes to advise that pursuant to Sections 25 & 27
of the International Banking Act Chapter 267, Revised Edition 2011 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, a
bank’s licence is revoked by the Minister of Finance on the recommendation from the Central Bank. The
Prime Minister who currently holds the post of Minister of Finance has been involved from the onset and
continues to be apprised of the situation with Choice Bank Limited.
The Central Bank placed Choice Bank Limited under enhanced supervision in January 2018, after an
on-site examination raised concerns over the Choice Bank Limited’s governance and operations. The
Central Bank implemented time bound corrective actions but Choice Bank Limited remained noncompliant
in a number of instances. Choice Bank Limited’s prepaid card processor also reported that Choice Bank
Limited had failed to properly address AML/CFT compliance issues that dated back more than three years.
This resulted in the prepaid card processor’s suspension on 02 April 2018 (and eventual termination) of
services that supported Choice Bank Limited’s prepaid card business. The management of Choice Bank
Limited then claimed that this caused a run on the prepaid card balances of the bank and they reacted by
suspending customer withdrawal of deposits on 09 April 2018.
Even after the issuance of two sets of preventative measures by the Minister of Finance in May 2018 and
June 2018, both of which were aimed at preserving the assets of Choice Bank Limited and safeguarding the
interests of its customers and depositors, the Central Bank was dissatisfied with the level of compliance.
When Choice Bank Limited failed to comply with the preventative measures, the Central Bank conducted
an unannounced special on-site examination, which commenced on 25 June 2018. The results of the
examination confirmed that Choice Bank Limited was not acting in the best interest of depositors and
customers and Choice Bank Limited’s international banking license was revoked on 29 June 2018.
With the revocation of Choice Bank Limited’s international banking licence, the Central Bank appointed a
qualified liquidator in accordance with the laws of Belize. The current liquidator, Mr. Cedric Flowers and
his team have as a fundamental objective the marshalling of the bank’s assets and customers’ claims in
order to develop a schedule of payments in accordance with the law.
The matter is ongoing and sensitive. As the Central Bank continues with the implementation of actions in
accordance with the laws of Belize, former clients of Choice Bank Limited are asked to follow instructions
issued by the liquidator. The liquidator will oversee all Choice Bank Limited affairs moving forward and
any concerns should be directed to [email protected].
The Central Bank of Belize’s primary mandate is to promote monetary and financial systems’ stability. The
framework for achieving this is embedded in the Substantive Laws of Belize. The prudential approach to
supervision of the financial system consists of regular on-site examinations as well as consistent off-site
surveillance through information and report gathering from those institutions which fall under the Bank’s
supervisory framework. The actions of the Central Bank, before and during the liquidation process of the
said international bank have been in accordance with these laws.

 

[KrsPeeva]

With two words another joke post from them with zero proof for anything. No one here is going to believe what anyone says unless providing proof for everything. You operate and work with our money so provide us with some decent info and PROOF CENTRAL BANK OF BELIZE.
Where are our money ? How much the bank has before it got liquidated? How much creditors and depositors can expect to get back and when? Are you going to pay us in full or just give the liquidation % number that is required from the offshore international banking law.
Why the liquidator has not responded to a single email and call ?

 

[Jovan]

I have emailed the Bank and central bank of Belize but none have reply my emails after 2 weeks. Can anybody advise what other option do we have now? Is it possible to engage a Belize law firm to communicate with them? Thanks

 

[Bogdan9000]

Let s stay positive !

At least they gave us some updates . I have hopes because if they don t give money back nobody ever will invest or deposit money in Belize .

 

[Martin Everson]

I have hopes because if they don t give money back nobody ever will invest or deposit money in Belize .

lol.....nobody does bank in Belize apart from very desperate people with no other options. i.e.....

"hummm should I bank with HSBC Bank in London or should I choose Choice Bank? I think I will go with Choice bank in this lovely third world banana republic called Belize".............................I can't see that choice happening really. People will continue to bank in Belize if they have no other choice. The bank should have been named more appropriately "I Have No Choice Bank Ltd".

 

[Claudia]

Let s stay positive !

At least they gave us some updates . I have hopes because if they don t give money back nobody ever will invest or deposit money in Belize .

I agree 100% with you.

Yes there are many many places: Grand Cayman, Bahamas and for example Uruguay in South America is safe 100%, many many people put their money there from different countries....

Seichelles Islands too.

If Belize has a bad reputation because there are 4 international Banks, now there are 3, the people will put their money in other places, this case is importan, every case, if it happened once it can happens again. And yes, there are other countries.

 

[Caporaso and Partners]

New articles in Belize
http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/168985

http://amandala.com.bz/news/panamanian-attorney-cb-governor-joy-grant-fired/

http://lovefm.com/central-bank-belize-says-operated-within-laws-dealing-choice-bank-crisis/

http://www.reporter.bz/2018/07/20/central-bank-gov-stands-up-to-panamanian-lawyer-bullying/

 

[Bogdan9000]

Sounds like good news to me ? What do you think Caporaso ?

 

[KrsPeeva]

That's old news. Nothing has changed. Still no response from the liquidator. It's good that this attorney is trying to get their and ppl 's attention but that seems not doing much. No one there cares...and he is in Panama. We need attorney in Belize operating and applying with Belize laws and before we go further we officially need to hear from the Central Bank and the Liquidator how much they are planning on paying us back and when. If no response and further actions is taken in next week or two I'd say let's go and hire attorney in Belize together . If that still don't help or do much we will just have to get over for losing most of our money in there and before and after all this is over we all need to make sure to inform as many people as possible so please post about this everywhere you can , reach out to institutions and lawyers , go public ...all this will help prevent other crisis like this . People must be aware and question every Belize Banking move before trusting them again . And if u think ur getting 100% of ur money ur fool . Mark my words.

 

[Claudia]

That's old news. Nothing has changed. Still no response from the liquidator. It's good that this attorney is trying to get their and ppl 's attention but that seems not doing much. No one there cares...and he is in Panama. We need attorney in Belize operating and applying with Belize laws and before we go further we officially need to hear from the Central Bank and the Liquidator how much they are planning on paying us back and when. If no response and further actions is taken in next week or two I'd say let's go and hire attorney in Belize together . If that still don't help or do much we will just have to get over for losing most of our money in there and before and after all this is over we all need to make sure to inform as many people as possible so please post about this everywhere you can , reach out to institutions and lawyers , go public ...all this will help prevent other crisis like this . People must be aware and question every Belize Banking move before trusting them again . And if u think ur getting 100% of ur money ur fool . Mark my words.

100% Agree.

Many times is too much better and effective to do it public, newspapers, socialmedia, tv channels, oficial chanels witch a big audience than the laws way. We should research the best comunications channels, radios, newspapers sites, journals, all those sites with good number of followers and big audience, oficial channels in Belize, offshore sites, and beging to post there, so all the world would know about Belize isn't safe for deposit our money.

We can also contact the IMF, and claim about Belize's Central Bank and our money.

 

[Claudia]

I submitted my claim on the IMF's site, I give you the link for contact them too if you want:

Country Contact Us

 

[Claudia]

On country you choose Belize

 

[Claudia]

Mr. Cedric Flowers answered my email, he says:

Thank you for contacting us. Please be assured that the Liquidation team is addressing all matters pertaining to Choice Bank Limited. You are advised that all steps taken during the Liquidation process must be governed by both the International Banking Act and the Domestic Banking Act of the Laws of Belize. Accordingly, you are asked to kindly note the following:


1. The Liquidator will publish, by 28 August 2018, a Notice to Claim to all depositors, creditors and customers, at which time you will have an opportunity to make your claim for any and all amounts owing to you by Choice Bank Limited.


2. Note that there will be a deadline by which claim forms are to be returned to the Liquidator. You may therefore wish to gather details of your claim (along with any documentation which will support your claim) in preparation for submission to the Liquidator.


You are encouraged to regularly check Choice Bank Limited’s website (www.choicebankltd.com) for updates.


If you have any further questions, call us at +501-223-6850/6851.


Respectfully,


Cedric Flowers

Liquidator

Choice Bank Limited

 

[KrsPeeva]

Thanks for sharing Claudia,
No réponse for me yet. I'll let you all know if i hear anything.
If anyone else get any other info or email from them please post it here.

 

[Elian]

Mr. Cedric Flowers answered my email, he says:

Thank you for contacting us. Please be assured that the Liquidation team is addressing all matters pertaining to Choice Bank Limited. You are advised that all steps taken during the Liquidation process must be governed by both the International Banking Act and the Domestic Banking Act of the Laws of Belize. Accordingly, you are asked to kindly note the following:


1. The Liquidator will publish, by 28 August 2018, a Notice to Claim to all depositors, creditors and customers, at which time you will have an opportunity to make your claim for any and all amounts owing to you by Choice Bank Limited.


2. Note that there will be a deadline by which claim forms are to be returned to the Liquidator. You may therefore wish to gather details of your claim (along with any documentation which will support your claim) in preparation for submission to the Liquidator.


You are encouraged to regularly check Choice Bank Limited’s website (www.choicebankltd.com) for updates.


If you have any further questions, call us at +501-223-6850/6851.


Respectfully,


Cedric Flowers

Liquidator

Choice Bank Limited

Now the question is what documentation do you need to prove that the bank owes you money? I'm asking because in my case i only have the firstchoicepay account that shows the amount of money that i have in my account.Is anybody else in the same situation?Also i have the emails from choice bank's where they were asking me for my personal information in order for them to wire my funds, and the email from Ad Kees.

 

[Elian]

I've also sent him an email but i never got a reply.

 

[KrsPeeva]

Please ask the liquidator what kind of documents exacly he needs from you to claim your money. Ask him to provide to you a form you can fill out or any other additional information on the process to claim ur money with the bank.
My funds are also held in my FirstChoicePay account , I have costumer Id number, I can download my statements, give them copy of all emails I have with the bank , screenshot of my log in into the account and that's it. I can't think of anything else as for now. Maybe I need to look at my agreements with them when I fist opened an account with them and gosh that was like almost 8-9 years ago....

 

[Elian]

Please ask the liquidator what kind of documents exacly he needs from you to claim your money. Ask him to provide to you a form you can fill out or any other additional information on the process to claim ur money with the bank.
My funds are also held in my FirstChoicePay account , I have costumer Id number, I can download my statements, give them copy of all emails I have with the bank , screenshot of my log in into the account and that's it. I can't think of anything else as for now. Maybe I need to look at my agreements with them when I fist opened an account with them and gosh that was like almost 8-9 years ago....

 

[Elian]

I think the accounts were made by the sites, you just applied for a card from firstchoice (back then it was payoneer) so you can access the money that the site would sent to your account. So there isn't any contract that you signed with them, but they should have your personal information and a screenshot of your firstchoicepay account along with maybe a copy of your id should be enough.I'm just hoping i'm right.Hopefully there won't be any problems with getting our money back.

 

[sglion]

Choice Bank, was a principal member for MasterCard, and perhaps one of the biggest in Belize, my question is, how stable is Belize financial institions, this could crate more problems in the short run....