Vinicio Castillo Seman, renowned laywer and defense counsel of Baninter president Ram?n B?ez, writes in Hoy newspaper today about the accountability of government authorities in the Baninter fiasco and subsequent economic turmoil.
Castillo says that it is not true that the authorities only recently discovered a clandestine bank within the bank. He said the authorities have deliberately tried to hide the fact that they were aware of the Baninter & Trust bank assets and liabilities. Because these figures were reported as part of the merger agreement negotiated in March 2003 with Banco del Progreso, and approved by the same authorities, the legal eagle says it is clear that officials were well informed.
The disclosure statement reported that the assets of the holding group were:
Baninter: RD$480,708,261,170. Liabilities RD$77,116,844,951. Capital RD$3,591,416,219. Liabilities and Capital: RD$80,708,261,170.
Baninter & Trust: US$217,658,017. Liabilities RD$207,512,468
Capital US$10,145,549.67. Liabilities and capital: US$217,658,017.
Castillo Seman says that the statement proves that there could not have been any heroic discoveries on the part of financial authorities, as Baninter itself had already revealed its assets and liabilities. He also highlights the fact that Luis Alvarez Renta was hired by Grupo Progreso S.A. to prepare the financial engineering of the merger.
Furthermore, the lawyer says that the authorities are lying to the nation when they say that they were in the dark for the past 14 years and did not know the real size of Baninter. He says the Central Bank controls the Chamber of Compensation, which in turn records all check transactions and provides great insight to the operations of any bank.
?What they have not told the country is that the collapse of Baninter was the result of the massive removal of deposits on behalf of the public; that the only liability of the Central Bank at the time of the merger, 23 March 2003, was RD$5.6 billion in advances and rediscounts; that in the 13 days during which the Grupo Progreso was in charge, that amount increased to RD$16.7 billion, and once the bank was intervened by the Central Bank it climbed to RD$55 billion, the result of the invitation on behalf of Central Bank Governor Malkum for all to ?come and get your money?, which he says dealt the fatal blow and led to the deliberate destruction of one of the most important financial institutions in the country.?
The lawyer also blames the technicians of the Central Bank, who entered Baninter on 23 March 2003, for spreading anxiety and spurring massive withdrawals of deposits, despite the announcement of a merger.