Rumor re. Banco del Progreso

[MrMike]

Got a late night panicked phone call from in-laws last night saying Banco del Progreso is in trouble.

I don't want to freak anybody out because I have absolutely no reason to belive this is true, but I am not exactly in the loop on these things.

Anybody else hear anything?

 

[iluvdr]

Please keep us updated...

Haven't heard anything...called my source there, she seemed quite reassuring that everything was fine. But then again I would not expect anything else?!
If you hear anything else don't be shy to post.
Thanks...

 

[carina]

I think it might be a natural explanation to this, as the bank have a new president.
Read some here: http://www.verizon.net.do/det1.aspx?id=4674&plantilla=1

Also in Listin Diario

 

[Guatiao]

Golo

Also posted on this topic:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44690

 

[MrMike]

After investigating further...

The specifics of the as-yet unconfirmed rumor is that a top executive of the bank left the country with an undisclosed (possibly unknown) amount of depositor funds.

It seems this (allegedly) happened only yesterday. The bank is being very discreet about it, as one would expect, and also the extent of the impact this will have on their ongoing solvency is still unknown.

 

[Dominican]

All of these coments are nonsense and pure gossip.The Bank is working as usual and no one have left the Country.

 

[HOWMAR]

All of these coments are nonsense and pure gossip.The Bank is working as usual and no one have left the Country.

Where there is smoke, there is fire. Care to make a sizable deposit today?

 

[MrMike]

OK, had a conversation with a branch manager (while withdrawing my savings)

Their story is that they had to change management because of irregularities and apparent abuse of company funds on the part of the former management.

Additionally they have discontinued their collections agency over irregularities as well, and that is causing the rumors that the bank is closing altogether - obviously they say this is false, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, the DR has way too many banks doing screwy things.

 

[Guatiao]

The IMF is suspicious

It seems that the IMF is looking into the suspicious firing of Perucho (Pedro) Castillo.

Article:
http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=6898

 

[ddalet]

Whatever you do, please do not panic. The board and holders behind this institution are very serious people, they will not abandon the bank and will recapitalize as deemed nec. by the central bank authorities.

From reading the papers (between the lines), and several years of banking experience in the states with relation to LA; it seems to me that he was fired for giving bank guarantees on credits that the board would not have agreed to and/or presented conflicts of interests with his own.

IMHO, these bank executives should all be jailed for banking fraud... it has a domino effect on the unsuspecting dominican (and his economy).

 

[HOWMAR]

Lots of newbies saying:

nonsense and pure gossip

Whatever you do, please do not panic

What did they have to say about previous bank fiascos?

In times of uncertainty, banks stop lending. That is exactly what the depositors are doing by not lending (withdrawing) their funds.

 

[ddalet]

spare me your primitive attempts at a lesson in banking, I've been a banker for years.

re-read my post then make an intelligent contribution or keep your mouth shut.

 

[HOWMAR]

spare me your primitive attempts at a lesson in banking, I've been a banker for years.

re-read my post then make an intelligent contribution or keep your mouth shut.

And you probably thought the Savings and Loan debacle wasn't caused by bankers with years of experience.
Until you live through a Dominican bank closure, you can never imagine what it is like, in spite of years of US banking experience.

The board and holders behind this institution are very serious people, they will not abandon the bank and will recapitalize as deemed nec. by the central bank authorities.

Are you talking for the board or as the board?

 

[Robert]

spare me your primitive attempts at a lesson in banking, I've been a banker for years.

re-read my post then make an intelligent contribution or keep your mouth shut.

How long have you been a banker in the DR and how much money have you lost due to DR bank closures/collapses in the past 20 years?

Your a newbie here, 2 posts. If I was you, I would eat a little humble pie before using primative remarks, like "keep your mouth shut".

 

[Heythere]

I like to call it Banco del NO Progresso. I only use this bank because I have to because my employer uses this bank to direct deposit pay its employees.

Their bank machines that I try to use do not work about 40- 60% of the time.

Also, I once tried to withdraw cash from a machine and it gave me no money. It said it was unable to complete the transaction at that time. There were plenty of funds in the account.

The bank did debit my account to the tune of 10,000 pesos but I never got the cash!! I went into my branch of "Progresso" and after repeated visits and 2 weeks they finally put the money back into my account. This caused me to waste a lot of time and it caused a lot of aggravation.

Throughout the entire thing, never did a "Progresso" employee ever say, "Sorry Sir, we made a mistake".

 

[iluvdr]

Good Service!

I am with several banks in the DR, including Progreso. The branch at Plaza Central as excellent service!!!

Last week I was fortunate enough to received the following email:

Hello Mr. ????

I just wanna tell you that you won RD$85,000.00 in your savings account this
is a contest that tha bank has, its called LA CUENTA PROGRESIVA the client
can win this amount every day.

The Staff there is so helpfull and perfectly bilingual. I can communicate all my instruction via internet. No problemo.

I guess like in any business there is good and bad, personally progreso is on top of my list as one of the best banks in the DR.

I hope they will be OK.

 

[Redscot]

I 2nd that

I too hope they will be ok. My wife is old friends with a branch manager in the country and she has assured us that as of now there is no need to panic, for whatever that is worth.

We have had nothing but good experiences with them, but perhaps that is because we have a personal relationship.......


Anyway, defintely will be keeping a close watch on the situation.

 

[HOWMAR]

In reacting to any situation, one has to evaluate the up-side of a response and the down-side of a response.

Response #1 of leaving money where it is...The upside is if the bank employees are correct and the money is safe. The downside is the bank goes under and you hope the government makes good on your deposits.

Response #2 of closing your accounts....The upside is if the bank goes under and you preserved all your money. The downside is if the bank remains intact and you wasted time transferring your funds.

Response #2 is my clear choice. Good luck to Banco Progresso. I hope they are in business for tne next 100 years, but I'm not willing to bet my pesos against the rumors. I'm sure they will be willing to reopen my account when this all blows over.

 

[mountainfrog]

Only in some countries

Remember the Baninter slogan?
"Todas las posibilidades"

No lie.

 

[iluvdr]

Call me stupid...

If one of my friends was getting beat up by several guys outside, I would not think twice to jump in and help him , even if that means me getting my butt kicked with him...
We always ask more and more from our banks, Progreso obviously has been standing up to the plate...now that there is a simple rumour with out any substancial evidence, people want to jump in and pull out there money.
Now that is exactly the kind of attitude that will make the bank crash!!!
If everybody starts pulling there money out at the same time, then it will be kaos...
Do you people really beleive that if the bank was collapsing they would let you withdraw large amounts of cash...offcourse not!
How many of you saw the signs before the Banister collapse???
This things usually don't have no signs,no rumors...the few chosen one's that know it's going to happen, keep it very quiet so they have enough time to pull out there money.So beware of rumors, the medicine might be worst then the pain!
Let's not let paranoia be the cause of our own destruction!