When Bank of The Bahamas received the Euromoney Award for Excellence this year for the fourth time and was named Best Bank in The Country by The Banker, part of the Financial Times Group, for the third time during the same fiscal year, it was an historic milestone in the nation and for the young bank. No other Bahamian bank had ever come close to achieving such international recognition. Yet Managing Director Paul McWeeney hesitated to publicize the two awards, believing the news should be shared with shareholders and stakeholders as opposed to making it a reason for boasting when so many in the nation are still struggling. The Bank, he believes, should continue to do what it has done to grow from infancy 24 years ago to where it is now, rather than basking in recognition.

Founded in 1947 by Rev. Henry Suttie S.J. It functioned for some years, but it was financially weak and stagnant. In December of 1979 it was re-organized by Fr. James Walsh S.J., and under new management, it has been growing and thriving since. St. Francis Xavier Credit Union Ltd. is a cooperative financial institution, having a Cooperative Structure. However, Credit Unions are different from other financial institutions in several unique ways. They are organized for the purpose of providing financial services to a certain group of people, the members. All surplus earnings are returned to its members in the form of dividends and rebates annually. It is a democratically controlled organization; each member has one vote. “People Helping People” is the basic philosophy of the Credit Union.

The Central Bank of Barbados was established in May 1972 by the Government of Barbados to advance the pace of economic development in the country. Prior to 1972, the East Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCA) was the institution responsible for the management of monetary matters for most of the smaller Eastern Caribbean countries, including Barbados. However, the ECCA did not regulate financial institutions, and since it held responsibility for a number of territories, there was no guarantee that ECCA’s policies would be acceptable, or appropriate to each jurisdiction.

History The initiative to create COOP-RESERVES arose in December 1987, at a working meeting with the Human Resources Directorate of the Reserve Bank, with the aim of achieving a means of dealing with inflation. The purchasing power of personnel was considered to acquire basic goods and services directly from producers, in large quantities. We are the cooperative company of the members of the Family Reservations, initiative of a group of employees in 1987 they decided to unite to create the necessary conditions to satisfy their common needs, under a cooperative philosophy. In 1990 it was incorporated by Decree 82-90 of the Executive Power, under the name of "Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples de la Personal de Banco de Reservas, de la República Dominicana".

The Belize Bank Limited (“BBL”) is a company incorporated and organised under the Companies Act, Cap. 250 of Belize, and licensed to conduct banking business pursuant to the Domestic Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 2012 of Belize (the “DBFIA”). As a company licensed to do banking business, BBL is subject to the supervision of the Central Bank of Belize (“CBB”), and the Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”). Constitutional Documents In 1988, The Belize Bank Limited was introduced and has since carried out the business of banking in the country of Belize.

The National Cooperative Credit Union Limited (NCCU) emerged from an amalgamation of five credit unions-- La Salette, St Paul, Vieille Case, Roseau and St David’s-- on November 1, 2010. These credit unions became the first Branches of NCCU "One Big Family". Amalgamation is one approach which has been used successfully by credit unions worldwide to strengthen their institutions. By the end of 2017, NCCU had evolved from being the Big 5 (as we were commonly called then) to the Big 7 by accepting the assets and liabilities of the South-Eastern and Castle Bruce Credit Unions. NCCU is a financially sound, multimillion dollar institution distinguished as the largest credit union in the OECS. Its 2018 Annual Report records Share Capital of $5.53M, Members Equity of $61.4M, Assets of $625.7M and a membership of 47,700. We offer members a complete line of financial services including savings, deposit and retirement accounts, loans for all purposes, an international debit card, Online, chequing, audio teller and money transfer services and funeral plans. NCCU is one of seven (7) credit unions currently operating in The Commonwealth of Dominica.

The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic was created on October 9th, 1947, in accordance with Statutory Law No. 1529. It commenced operations on October 23rd of the same year, serving as a decentralized and independent organization. At present, it is governed by the Monetary and Financial Law. The Central Bank is ruled by the Monetary Board. Mission To guarantee the stability of prices, the appropriate regulation of the financial system and the suitable operation of the payment systems, acting as the issuer and executor of the monetary and exchange, in agreement with the duties conferred this institution by the constitution and the law.

The World Council of Credit Union selected Communal and another Credit Union in St. Patrick’s, to pilot a project aimed at the development of the movement in Grenada. This project led to the amendment of by-laws, introduction of stricter loan collection policies, the introduction of lending for small enterprises and changes to internal regulations and controls Communal’s Empowerment Skills Training Programme for members was initiated by the late General Manager, Mr. M. Brian Campbell. This Programme aims at developing new skills in our members.