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BoS Garapan re-opens doors today
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Posted on Jan 28 2005
Nearly three years after closing its doors to clients, the Bank of Saipan’s Garapan branch reopens today and will be one of the few banks that will serve its customers seven days weekly.
BoS president Jon Bargfrede said the Garapan outlet’s reopening signals the financial institution’s recovery, optimistic that the court would terminate its receivership in a few months.
“It’s a sign that we’re continuing to progress,” Bargfrede said. He said the outlet would be open on weekends, including Sundays, to serve customers.
The bank’s main branch in Chalan Kanoa reopened in May 2003 under a Superior Court-approved rehabilitation plan.
Both branches would be open from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday. Friday’s closing time is 6pm. Only the Garapan branch will have banking hours on weekends from 10am to 1pm.
Since Dec. 1, the bank has been operating normally without any restrictions on deposits prior to the receivership, Bargfrede said. The multi-million-dollar government deposits, particularly those of the Marianas Public Lands Authority and the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund, have been effectively converted to long-term deposits pursuant to agreements reached by both agencies with the bank.
Bargfrede said the bank continues with its recovery, reporting an operating profit of approximately $900,000 in 2004. The bank’s total assets have reached $27 million, he said.
According to Bargfrede, new deposits in 2004 reached almost $4 million, making total deposits reach $23 million.
The bank has also revived loan services and has extended a total of about $600,000 in loans since September 2004, Bargfrede said. “The receivership will be over very soon,” he said optimistically.
The bank’s new chair, Tony Pellegrino, will lead the ceremonial opening of the Garapan branch at 10am today. House Speaker Benigno Fitial would be guest speaker.
The bank temporarily shut down operations in 2002 after a bank run that ensued following fraudulent acquisition of loans by the group of businessman Bert Douglas Montgomery, who is now serving his sentence in federal prison.
