Taken from Listín Diario
SANTO DOMINGO.– The Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican Republic (SB) has begun the process of dissolving Bancamérica and is preparing to auction off the entity's assets and liabilities, which would involve transferring clients (with their savings and credit products) to another entity in the system.
Bancamérica customers will have to wait at least a month to allow time for the process that the SB is carrying out to protect their assets.
The information was provided by the institution at the request of this newspaper. The supervisory body initiated the dissolution process of Bancamérica this Wednesday, February 2nd. It stated that it will provide further details of the process to the bank's clients and the general public in due course.
Currently, a large number of Bancamérica customers are waiting to see what happens, because the intervention of the financial system's regulatory authority came as a surprise to them.
Although one client who has all her savings there said that since 2019 she heard a comment on the local radio that worried her, but nothing more was said about it and that is why she stayed in the portfolio of that bank which also attracted her because of the high interest that her deposits generated.
The Superintendency of Banks (SB) announced in a notice that it has initiated the dissolution process of Banco Múltiple de las Américas, SA (Bancamérica) and invited the bank's creditors to validate their deposits and other claims on the ProUsuario website or by visiting the main office or its branches. Debtors are asked to make payments in person at the bank's branches.
Bancamérica's shareholders reacted immediately:“We do not share the motivations and results of this unexpected resolution and are exercising all legal resources to obtain its annulment through legal means, since Bancamérica has a capital solvency of assets that support regular daily operations and this decision does not do justice to the more than 12 years that we have worked adhering to the full compliance with the laws and regulations of the Dominican Republic, providing benefits to our clients and the country's economy,” they stated in an unsigned press release.
The statement adds that the shareholders are committed to complying with the regulations established by the Monetary Board, the Central Bank and the Superintendency of Banks, "in order to faithfully comply with the regulations for the dissolution and liquidation of entities, thus guaranteeing all our clients and users the availability of their deposits and other receivables, efficiently and effectively in the shortest possible time, since there is a full and effective guarantee of the assets and resources of the institution.".
Customers are uncertain about their money
Secrecy prevails at the branches of Bancamérica, the bank owned by Venezuelan citizen Víctor de Jesús Vargas, which began to be dissolved last Wednesday by the Superintendency of Banks (SB) for non-compliance with the legal and regulatory provisions established in a regularization plan to which the financial entity was being subjected.
Yesterday afternoon, Listín Diario visited several offices again and all were practically empty, with very few staff and customers.
Everywhere we went, the atmosphere was tense. At one branch, the door was half open. At another, two people were talking, and when they saw our team, they went inside and locked themselves in.
In an office located in a well-known shopping center, security personnel prevented us from taking photos and interviewing customers, whose tension was evident on their faces.
Few people agreed to give statements; they asked not to be recorded or photographed, and those who did speak often requested that their names be withheld.
Uncertainty.
The few customers who have agreed to speak have expressed concern because they cannot use their money and fear they will not be able to recover it. “That affects me a lot because I need my money,” said a woman as she left one of the branches.
Diogenes Henríquez, a client we were able to contact virtually, stated that this situation affects him greatly because having his savings safe is a guarantee of being able to make investments or resort to them in case of immediate need.
“Knowing that my savings are in that process creates a lot of uncertainty about whether I could really recover them,” said Henríquez, who has a checking account in dollars.
Henríquez also indicated that he is concerned about the fact that in this country a banking institution can suddenly put people's savings and efforts at risk.
“Today it’s Bancamérica, tomorrow we don’t know which other bank it might be. Our impression was one of complete surprise, since when I decided to open a dollar account, I researched several banking institutions in the country and this bank offered attractive rates, had a significant physical and digital infrastructure, including a mobile app for transfers,” he stated.
What will happen to the money?
According to an explanatory document from the Superintendency of Banks, people who have savings accounts up to an amount of one million eight hundred and sixty thousand pesos in Bancamérica, have their money guaranteed, but they will not be able to use it for a period of up to 30 days, which could be extended for another 30 days.
