‘Concerned’ NBS members seek support from Board

The Committee of Concerned Members of the New Building Society (NBS), in a release to the media, on Monday, expressed its appreciation to the members of the Society that came together to draw attention to the many burning issues facing the financial sector generally and the NBS in particular.
The release noted that “as a result of financial and moral support, the mature persistence of our group and participation at meetings and the Annual General Meeting at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice, we were able to win support from the Board and the wider membership for some of our key concerns.”
According to Cyril Walker, Chairman of the body, “We take this opportunity to acknowledge the response of the directors for their readiness to address some of those concerns including new governance arrangements for lending, restriction on lending limits without express membership approval and the reduction of exchange risks.”
He said that he was hopeful that the willingness by the directors signals a new level of cooperation and understanding between the directors and the members whose interest is paramount.
It was pointed out that there are still a number of outstanding issues that he was hopeful that the Board would be willing to work on with the committee.
“As members that is our right and duty. NBS is one of the country’s largest financial institutions and has gone unregulated for too long.
We are disappointed that the Bank of Guyana has refused to meet with us to discuss our concerns as members…We will continue with our efforts to engage the Bank which we hope will recognise our role and interest.”
The NBS has tens of thousands of members, and Walker pointed out that the committee and members of the company must work together to improve the quality, nature and frequency of the interaction between the members and the Board.
Walker also noted that the Committee will be holding a public meeting tomorrow at the St. Stanislaus College’s auditorium at 17:00hrs.