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Banker Richard Branch is tipped to become CEO of Building & Loan. (Internet photo)
Banker Richard Branch is tipped to become CEO of Building & Loan. (Internet photo)

The new chief executive officer of the Building & Loan Association, Richard Branch, will take up the post next week Monday, Sept. 9, subject to the ratification of the board elected on Thursday.

Sharda Bollers, executive director of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which took over management and control of the BLA on Feb. 1, made the announcement Thursday at the first “annual” general meeting of the BLA in two years.

Bollers said each candidate for the CEO position was asked questions from a set questionnaire and were graded.

In addition to Bollers and her deputy, Eleanor Astaphan, who is also acting CEO of the BLA, the interview committee consisted of Chair of the FSA, Leon Snagg, his deputy, Alma Dougan, and another director of the FSA, whom Bollers did not name.

Bollers told the meeting that Branch has “very relevant qualifications and experience for the post at hand.

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“He has an MBA in banking, economics and law, a diploma in management and other relevant qualification. And I think a really important matter is that he has worked extensively in banking with specialisation in credit risk analysis.

“So, he has background with credit, which forms the backbone of the business of the Association. He has relevant experience as well, and you don’t often get this, sort of relevant experience with a distressed financial institution that was able to make a successful turn around,” she said.

The FSA, the regulator of non-commercial bank financial institutions in SVG, intervened in the BLA after a newspaper article by economist Luke Browne triggered a run on the building society in January.

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