Atlantic Bank rids itself of Stake Bank $62 M. debt; Stake Bank’s Port Coral project still mired in litigation
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 17, 2024
Atlantic Bank Limited (ABL), Belize’s second largest commercial financial institution, has rid itself of the $62 million loan it made to Stake Bank Enterprise Limited (SBEL) for the Port Coral project. While the report is that the Central Bank of Belize, as the regulator of financial institutions in Belize, had taken steps to ensure the protection of depositors’ funds beforehand, some who grew concerned when ABL moved to put SBEL in receivership on March 14 this year are likely now breathing a sigh of relief.
The report about the sale of the Stake Bank debt is the latest official update on the developing situation regarding the Stake Bank receivership. The announcement came from ABL itself, which stated in a brief release on Friday, May 24, that it “… sold the facilities held with Stake Bank” to Operaciones Portuarias, S.A. de C.V. That’s a company organized and existing under the laws of Honduras. Notably, in a lawyer letter to the Central Bank Governor dated April 22, 2024, written on behalf of Michael Feinstein, principal shareholder of SBEL, it was alleged that Operaciones Portuarias is actually a significant shareholder and partner in SBEL via a Shareholders Agreement entered into on April 17, 2018. Feinstein also alleges that Guillermo Bueso and David Bueso of Honduras, who he says are principals in Atlantic Bank, “failed to disclose that they were in fact the moving force of Operaciones Portuarias S.A. de C.V.” According to Feinstein, the two men led all the negotiations on behalf of OPSA with SBEL and ABL when Stake Bank was seeking a syndicated loan to fund the Port Coral project.
Another allegation made by Feinstein, when it called for the Central Bank to investigate certain actions of ABL, was that the bank had used depositors’ and ABL employees’ pension funds to disburse the “$60 mil” in funds to SBEL. In its release on Friday, Atlantic Bank assured customers that having removed the SBEL debt from its books, and since it is no longer carrying banking business with SBEL, the Bank has adequately safeguarded depositors’ funds. The Bank also affirms that it continues to operate in accordance with the applicable banking regulations and industry standards.
With this move, SBEL in receivership must now make its payments to the buyer of the debt. As to other effects of this latest development, little is being said by those in authority, given that the Stake Bank receivership is now considered a private matter. At this time, there is only speculation that the Government of Belize may feel compelled to support an out-of-court settlement for the Stake Bank litigation with an aim of seeing the Port Coral project completed. Today, Prime Minister John Briceño would only tell Amandala that he has no idea of the Government pursuing such an avenue. As things stand, a long drawn-out court process is expected until the court rules whether or not Feinstein committed fraud as it relates to the title for the expanded land surrounding the original Stake Bank Island being put in his name rather than the company’s. The lack of a timely resolution would push Belize further away from the likelihood of getting an urgently needed cruise ship berthing port anytime soon.