Banking

Why we should all move our money to indigenous banks.  I was interested to read recently about the grassroots movement that is spreading across the USA to abandon the major banks and for all customers to move their accounts to community banks.  In our islands that would translate to “indigenous” banks. 

Here is the video that started what I expect will, in the coming months, be a groundswell of change in banking practices around the world:

It is not just the conviction that many of us have that our small indigenous banks are safer than the major international banks.  There are small people with immediate, personal reasons for moving.  Here, as an example, is Stephanie Frost, one irate Bank of America customer, explaining what she is doing:

To cite Camden R Fine, our community or indigenous banks take time to get to know their customers. They make loans to the small businesses in the community that the larger banks won’t touch.  Their continued success depends on building and maintaining good relationships with their customers.  Indigenous bankers are accountable.  They have to be.  Often they are dealing with their neighbours, the parents of their children’s friends, the people they see every day during their personal and professional lives.  They rely on common-sense practices, honesty, integrity, accountability and transparency. 

The same cannot be said of the management of the Banks of America, Citigroups, Wells Fargos, et al.

Winair

New opportunity for Access Tsarina opens up.  Winair announced yesterday that it is ceasing its daily flights between St Maarten and Anguilla effective 1 December.  December is the peak of the tourism season for Anguilla.  What does this tell us about Winair's views on our tourism prospects?  The industry is very important to us.  Now that marijuana exports are banned, we have very few other crops to reap besides tourists.  

Have you studied the American Eagle recently reorganized service between Puerto Rico and Anguilla?  The flight arrives in Anguilla in the mid-afternoon, meaning that only travelers from the Eastern Seaboard of the United States are able to use it to access Anguilla in one day.  Visitors from Canada, the Mid-west, and the Pacific coast require an overnight stop in Miami or San Juan to be able to get to Anguilla, if they use San Juan.  For those of us in Anguilla who were previously accustomed to make a medical appointment with our doctor in San Juan, go up in the early morning, and then return to Anguilla in the late evening, the present service is a disaster.  We cannot accomplish anything in one day.  We must go to San Juan the day before our appointment, then overnight again to be able to catch the flight the following afternoon.  The service stinks.  The cost for a return ticket on the Eagle to San Juan is over US$300.00, plus at least US$200 for the hotel room, while the return ticket from New York to St Maarten costs less than US$400.00.

Anyone who over the last year has accessed Anguilla via San Juan on American Airlines or via St Maarten on Winair had to have been very badly advised.  I am sure that very little business will be lost to Anguilla if they are both discontinued.  No properly advised international traveler should do otherwise than go directly to St Maarten, then catch either a ferry or one of the small, easily arranged non-scheduled airlines that do the 6 minute flight to Anguilla.

Of the scheduled airlines, only LIAT, God help us, provides a decent air service into or out of Anguilla to anywhere else.  I doubt that many persons will be inconvenienced by the loss of the Winair connection.  What Winair did not mention in its end of service notice was that this flight to St Maarten was probably one of the most expensive flights anywhere in the world, mile for mile. 

Does anybody know how many of our hard-earned dollars went to support the last venture between Puerto Rico and Anguilla?  Will the figures of public funds expended on this project ever come out?  Does the previously announced financial commitment by the government to subsidizing that service continue even now in times of hardship?

Given our government’s penchant for supporting over-the-top, hare-brained enterprises promoted by party supporters and hangers-on, one can only imagine what opportunities our Access Tsarina and her cronies are looking at for the future expenditure of public funds.

Surveys

More on the forum last Tuesday.  Last Tuesday, I took the opportunity to bring up for discussion a common problem attended to at the Anguilla Legal Aid Clinic:  Surveying methods in Anguilla.  I explained that one of the most common complaints in the Legal Aid Clinic had already been mentioned by Dame Bernice.  That was the practice of the Planning Department, with the compliance of the surveyors, to insert provision for a public road into every subdivision.  This was done without informing the landowner of his rights, or the implications of what was being done.  The public road reserve was often inserted into the survey without the road connecting to an existing road at either end.  The road provision was stuck in with no justification or rationale, merely in the hope that one day it might be extended over the adjoining parcels.  No compensation was offered or even discussed.  This amounted to a fraud, in my opinion, on families that were subdividing inherited land.

I told the audience that a second problem that arose in the Anguilla Legal Aid Clinic also involved surveys.  I explained that in most West Indian islands, there were rules that required surveyors to notify neighbours whenever a new boundary was going to be put down.  Surveyors should be required to get the consent of all affected landowners before the Chief Surveyor permitted any survey to be registered.  It appeared that the contrary was done in Anguilla.  Surveyors here are not guided by any written standards.  Here, surveyors are encouraged not to speak to neighbouring landowners, but to present a fait accompli in the hope that any dissatisfaction would be mute and helpless. 

There had also been complaints that the Planning Department sometimes required a road provision to be made alongside a boundary without any discussion with the neighbouring landowner who might have been willing to contribute one half of the road provision.  The result was that persons who were desperate to have their land sub-divided were being compelled to provide a road for all the neighbours without the neighbours contributing.

A lively discussion followed the two presentations.

St James

Does the St James School of Medicine of Bonaire really have a second campus in Anguilla?  That is what prospective students have been emailing me to find out.  Do we have a School of Medicine in Anguilla that no one knows about?  There have been rumours, I tell them, but there is no trace of a place of medical education in Anguilla. 

I am sure everyone remembers what the Minister of Finance said during the last Budget Address:

Finally, Mr Speaker, I am happy to say that the St. James Medical School, which Government granted approval by way of a Memorandum of Agreement in 2005, has received provisional accreditation from the regional body and is currently awaiting licensing.  It is due to begin matriculating students in Anguilla next year.  The Medical School will initially operate out of rented premises but within 3-5 years, as per the terms of the MOA, will construct its own purpose built state of the art campus facilities.  Mr Speaker we have high hopes for the St. James Medical School.  The students at the St. James Medical School, which is expected to grow to some 250 persons overtime, will be a boon to the local apartment rental market as well as provide other benefits to the Anguillian economy.

We have been patiently waiting to see what develops with this promised medical school.  We all want to know who is to be the favoured party supporter in whose direction the contracts will be steered.

Then, one of our local rental agents this week got a request from an individual looking for an apartment to rent in The Quarter because “… I will be attending the Saint James School of Medicine in January”.  This alerted me that something may be happening.  So, I decided to go to the website of the St James School of Medicine to see what I could learn. 

Sure enough, there is now a whole section for their campus here in Anguilla.  That is very new.  It was not there the last time I looked.

 There is even a picture of the school building.

 …complete with a big sign on the front and logos on the door – even cars parked in front of it! 

Look familiar?

Well, here’s the same building as it looks today…

…located on the curve in the main road in The Quarter in front of Babrow’s.

But wait – the building appears from the outside to be empty and unfurnished.  Where are the sign and the logos on the door that we see in the photograph above?  And the same car is parked in the same place!  Someone, maybe, doing a little work with Photoshop?  Making an empty building look like one that is in use?

A discussion on one of the online forums asks if the school is moving from Bonaire to Anguilla?  The response:

Saint James is not moving it's [sic] campus from Bonaire to Anguilla.  The school had to open a 2nd campus in order to meet accreditation requirements.   They has [sic] to have a back up campus in case of an emergency or natural disaster.  The new campus on Anguilla is starting it's [sic] first class of students for the Spring of 2010 and the Campus on Bonaire will continue to be on Bonaire.

It is pointless to speculate, as some have, that this could be just a “phantom campus” with a PO Box, to meet accreditation requirements.

One other speculation is that the Premedical Program will NOT be offered in Anguilla – just the Basic Science Program and the Clinical Science Program.  So, this means it could be just classroom work – or it might be devoted to remote learning via computer.

What is more factual and interesting is that tuition for the 4-year Basic Science Program taken in Anguilla is almost 1½ times the cost of the same program if enrolled in Bonaire -  US $26,000 in Anguilla vs. $18,000 in Bonaire, with housing expenses shown being $800/month here vs. $500 in Bonaire.

So this raises the question:  if you are a student, why would you enroll in the school here in Anguilla – right now just an empty building – when for much less money, you can attend the large, well attended, well equipped campus in Bonaire and take the same courses?

You may recall the post I did about this medical school in June.  The regional body that gives accreditation to medical schools is the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP).  I reported then that they had given provisional approval for the Anguilla Campus of the St James School of Medicine.  One of the conditions of this provisional accreditation was that the St James School was obliged to put a warning in all their promotional material in words to the effect that accreditation of the Anguilla campus was only provisional.  That was to alert students not to make a financial commitment to a campus that did not yet exist.  As they worded their decision:

 I am certain the St James School would have done just that and not misled students.  Clearly, they cannot open their doors to students until they get final approval.  So, I visited the CAAM-HP website to check on the current state of the approval.  This is what I found. 

So, as per the CAAM-HP website above, the St James School of Medicine is not yet accredited to teach in Anguilla.  That decision is still "to be announced".  No doubt, everything will be cleared up before they start taking any money from any students who think they are coming to an accredited school of medicine in Anguilla in January.

Let’s hope there are no games being played here that could possibly embarrass Anguilla in any way.

Related posts:

Medical school

Amalgamation

National Bank of Anguilla and Caribbean Commercial Bank are being forced to merge together.  Yes, I want to come back to this topic.  The Chief Minister, and Chairman of the Board of the Caribbean Commercial Bank, has told us at one of his press conferences that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is demanding amalgamation.  I want to focus on that aspect of the issue.  The Central Bank is the regulator of the two banks.  The banks are helpless to resist the pressure coming from such a quarter, regardless of how mindless it is.  Refusal appears to be out of the question.  The two banks are apparently working to put the plan into effect without further delay.

In order to have an idea of what a merger would mean in financial terms, I searched the internet for financial data on the two banks.  NBA was not difficult to find.  The 2008 Report and Accounts are on the NBA website.  The balance sheet at page 23 reveals that the total assets of that bank at the time were EC$1.13 billion, deposits were EC$928 million, and shareholders equity amounted to EC$131 million.  I searched for any Annual Report for CCB to see how much they would bring to the marriage.  I found their website easily enough.  There is no financial information on it that I could locate.  I know that as a private bank they are not obliged to make their balance sheets publicly available.  I realise that the data is not secret.  It is given to the Central Bank on at least a quarterly basis.  It is also published in the Official Gazette.  However, neither of these sources is online, and CCB’s financial data is therefore essentially unavailable.

We cannot imagine that the figures for CCB can be any greater than those for NBA.  Even if CCB brought in the region of EC$1 billion to the table, we are still talking of total assets and liabilities of the merged entities of about EC$2 billion.  US$100 equals EC$270.  That means that the merged assets will be in the region of US$571 million.

Apparently, the Central Bank has convinced itself that the two local banks are too small to stand on their own.  The argument being advanced is probably that the two will become stronger and better able to resist the present economic downturn if they amalgamate.  That just does not make sense.  In international banking terms, both local institutions are tiny.  Why would any regulator be so deluded as to believe that two minnows coming together will be anything else but one minnow with indigestion?

A search of the internet for bank failures in the USA during 2009 is revealing.  Of the 10 largest bank failures, the deposits of Colonial Bank exceeded US$20 billion.  The smallest, New Frontier Bank, had deposits in excess of US$2 billion.  The complete list, for those interested, can be checked here.  Our two banks are miniscule in comparison to these US banking failures.  What conceivable safety could their amalgamation provide when much larger US and UK banks are much more likely to fail than ours are?

 Heaven alone knows what arguments the ECCB has produced to justify such a dangerous and destructive move.  Based on what the Chief Minister said publicly a few days ago, the principle argument appears to be that amalgamation will make it easier for our two banks merged into one to compete!  Could it be that all it really amounts to is making life easier for the Central Bank?  It gives them one less entity to regulate.

As a shareholder in NBA, I have been provided with no information as to why this dismal step is being even considered.  That distresses me.  It makes me feel sad and dispirited.  It discourages me.  It fills me with foreboding.

What is more upsetting is that the plan to amalgamate is being put into effect in secret, by order of the directors, and without consulting the shareholders.  Are we the shareholders and depositors not to be told anything until it is a fait accomplis?

Amalgamation for commercial reasons is one thing.  Amalgamation at the whim of a regulator is entirely another.

The other result of amalgamation will be that, when the economy rebounds in a few years' time, we the consumers of banking services will no longer have our two most efficient banking service providers competing with each other to our benefit.  We shall be left with expensive, inefficient, unfriendly banking services.

Related Posts:

Banking

 

Marketing

I would have thought that the artist’s renditions on the early promotional material would have been preferable to the barren scenes depicted by these photographs. I have just been looking at the latest promotional material produced by Viceroy. The above is the conclusion I came to as a result. The architect’s elevations and drawings in circulation some years ago were quite attractive. By comparison, the real thing as depicted by these latest photographs is about as close a resemblance to Alcatraz prison as you can get. Have a look for yourself and tell me whether you are attracted.

View of the Point from the water

Entrance

Walkway

Seafront apartments

Hotel

Shearwater and Royal Tern Villas

View of the Specialty Restaurant from the water

Shearwater villas

Residences

What seems to be their spanking new website can be seen at Viceroy Anguilla.

Their ownership opportunities page gives you lots of pictures of sea fans and exotic marine life.

But, I can’t find out what I get for my million dollars if I purchase a residence there. Will I be acquiring the Anguilla equivalent of freehold, called under our law ‘title absolute’? Or, am I perhaps acquiring a 99 year ‘lease’? Or, perhaps, it will be a ‘strata lot’ registered under the Condominium Act? That would be as good as real property. Anything else would be, in my opinion, mere vapour, gas, a mirage of real property.

Purchasers, I am told by one who has been in communication with me, are not encouraged to retain their own local lawyer to advise them on what exactly it is they are acquiring. Purchasers are under the impression that they can use the professional services provided by the seller! Can it be that even today there are buyers who are so naïve? I am certain they would not be so innocent in their own home country if they were acquiring a multi-million dollar home. They would have the best lawyer around advising them on their investment.

Some real estate speculators and developers in various parts of the world are selling ownership of imaginary real estate under the name of ‘club residences’ and the like. In Anguilla at least, such a purchase does not result in the ownership of real estate. What is acquired is nothing more than a contractual interest. The problem with contracts, as compared to an interest in real estate, is that a contract can fail or come to an end for one reason or another. When that happens, the purchaser has nothing more than a hope of suing for breach of contract. A contractual interest is most certainly not the same thing as an interest in land. Most people investing their hard-earned savings in a multi-million dollar piece of real estate are under the natural impression that they are acquiring an interest in the real estate.

It can’t be that Viceroy would be selling ‘timeshare’ as real estate in Anguilla. Timeshare, like condominium, can be a valid interest in land. But, it takes a statute to make it possible. There is no timeshare law in Anguilla. In Anguilla it is impossible to acquire as real estate a timeshare interest in a villa or apartment. It is possible to create a contract that claims to offer a ‘timeshare’ interest, but such a contract has the defect that all such contracts have: it is not an interest in realty in Anguilla. Anyway, Viceroy’s representative has assured me that Viceroy is not selling timeshares.

A pretend interest in land can also take the form of an equity interest in a company that holds the title to the real property. In such a scenario, a company owns the title to the real estate, and the individual purchasers actually acquire no more than shares in the company. But, again, this is not an interest in real estate. It is only an interest in personal property, shares in a company. If, for any reason, the company should go under, the shareholders are left with worthless equity. Well-advised investors will only purchase real estate in a country where the law recognizes and protects interests in real property.

On Sunday I sent an email inquiry to Viceroy's Phillip Day, inquiring what real estate interest does the purchaser of an apartment, or residence as they call it, acquire. He replied:

In response to your e-mail, Viceroy Anguilla does not sell "apartments." Viceroy Anguilla is selling one, two and three bedroom condominium residences along with four and five bedroom free-standing villas. As I mentioned before, Viceroy Anguilla does not sell "time-shares" or any other partial type of ownership commonly referred to as "fractional."

. . . At closing, each purchaser receives a title insurance policy from Stewart Title guaranteeing fee simple ownership of the residence free of any liens, encumbrances or other title exceptions, excepting, the following: (i) applicable laws, regulations and ordinances; (ii) the condominium documents that establish and govern Viceroy's condominium homeowners association; (iii) easements, rights-of-way, covenants, restrictions and other encumbrances that affect the condominiums; (iv) all easements, rights-of-way and notes shown on the recorded development plan; (v) easements, claims of easements, not shown by public record (vi) discrepancies or conflicts in boundaries, easements, encroachments, rights-of-way, encroachments or area content that a satisfactory current land title survey would disclose; (vi) possible additional tax assessment by reason of new construction of improvements, not yet due and payable; and (viii) the statutory rights and easements granted to the Seller as Declaring under the condominium documents by the Government of Anguilla, British West Indies.

Every Viceroy Anguilla purchaser is provided with copies of all condominium documents for their examination and approval many months prior to closing. All Viceroy Anguilla purchasers are advised verbally and in writing to consult their own attorney about the purchase.

The Stuart Title referred to is a US title insurance company that usually guarantees title to deeded property held by fee simple ownership. It is useful to have title insurance in the case of deeded property. There is no deeded realty in Anguilla. A person purchasing real estate in Anguilla will expect to get 'absolute title', which is a land title already guaranteed by law.

All real property in Anguilla is registered title under the Registered Land Act. A guarantee by a private company of my absolute title to my property is about as meaningfull as my guaranteeing to you that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. The laws of the planets and the stars already guarantee that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Registered title means that the Act imposes an obligation on the government of Anguilla to guarantee title. Title once registered is guaranteed by law. No private company can give a better or stronger title guarantee that the Act and the Constitution of Anguilla.

Given that there is no fee simple title to land in Anguilla [it was abolished by law in 1974], I have difficulty understanding how Stuart Title will guarantee that that is just what a purchaser will receive. This must be a mistaken understanding by Mr Day about the law of Anguilla. I have previously pointed this out to him, but he does not seem to understand the point.

Do make sure to get your own lawyer to advise you on any purchase of a 'residence'. I am certainly no expert, never having seen any of the contractual or title documents.

Medical School

St James School of Medicine. My attention was caught by a throw-away line in Victor’s recent speech, published a few days ago on this blog as “Golf Course”. Right at the end of the speech he said, “and, the long awaited Medical School is scheduled to open in August/September and will create opportunities for the apartment rental sector and other businesses.” That was it. No further explanation.

I went off to do a little research on the internet.

The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professionals would be the agency responsible for authorizing such a school. This Authority is the officially recognized institution for accrediting medical schools in the West Indies. It has existed since the year 2004 when the British General Medical Council abandoned us and went off to be fully integrated into Europe. The Authority has a website. I went to visit it. There are eight medical schools listed as having applied to the Authority for accreditation. Some of the schools have achieved full accreditation, while others are only provisionally accredited. I had a look at the details for each of them. I learned that these appear to range from No 1, the University of the West Indies to No 8, the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine. No 4 is the St James School of Medicine.

So, I went to the “details” page to learn what it had to say about the assessment of the Anguilla project. I found the following from the year 2007:

I note that Sir Graeme Catto and Professor ER Waldrond are the two persons who carried out the Anguilla assessment. Professor Sir Graeme Catto is well-known as the President of the General Medical Council of the UK. He is a Scottish doctor, Professor of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen, Vice-Principal of King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospital Medical and Dental School. Professor ER “Mickey” Waldrond is a distinguished professor of medicine at UWI. This is a very serious team. Their recommendation that the school be given provisional accreditation must be given weight. The St James School was obviously not considered by them to be a fly-by-night operation.

But, I note that this 2007 assessment is only provisional. The assessment team was to have visited in six months time to see how the school was progressing in setting up the facilities for the admission of the first class of students. Did they ever pay this second visit? I cannot find any report of their later assessment, if it ever took place.

I do a little more exploring. I learn that the St James School of Medicine already has a West Indian operation. It has functioned in the island of Bonaire since 2001. YouTube even has a video about it. I find a few grouches posting negative things on various blogs. I find some doubt that the qualifications they give are acceptable in various States of the USA. Then, I go to their website.

I find something odd about the banner at the top of their home page. I say to myself, “Hold on, is that not a view of Road Bay in Anguilla taken from South Hill?”

It may be a minor thing, but I wonder to myself why would they want to illustrate a web page about a school in Bonaire with a picture of a bay in Anguilla.

I ask myself, is the plan to close down the Bonaire medical school and transfer all courses to Anguilla. What would cause them to take such a step?

Is Victor right that this school is about to start up in Anguilla in September?

If so, where is it going to be?

How come I have not heard of any activity on the island relating to the school since provisional approval was given in 2007?

It is all a complete mystery to me.

Measures

Weights & Measures. Why is there no government officer in Anguilla charged with checking annually the weights and measures used by merchants on this island? I know that the Weights and Measures Act says that there should be Inspectors of Weights and Measures who are supposed annually to go around and check on these matters. There is one, and sometimes several, in each other island of the West Indies. We must be the only one where the consumer is so blatantly exposed to short changing and overcharging.

I challenge anyone in government to show that any inspector has actually been appointed and trained to perform the statutory duties. The Act says that the inspector is an officer in the Accountant-General’s office. I emailed our Accountant-General and asked her if any had ever been appointed in Anguilla to her knowledge. As the Deputy-Governor is in charge of public service appointments, I asked him as well. Needless to say, neither has responded to my enquiry.

Take one of those little red one-gallon gasoline canisters sold at all the hardware stores in Anguilla. They are made in the USA, and I would expect they measure 1 US gallon. They state they can hold 1 gallon, 4 fluid ounces. One gallon would be up to the “safe” full mark. The extra four ounces, I expect, would be if you fill it up to overflowing.

One US gallon is 128 US fluid ounces. One Imperial gallon is 153.7 US fluid ounces. The gas stations of Anguilla are obliged by the Weights and Measures Act to sell gasoline by the Imperial gallon. If they are doing so, and if you fill one of those little made-in-the-USA red canisters, you should get considerably less, nearly 20% less, than one Imperial gallon in it.

One of my correspondents conducted a little experiment. He went to three of the seven gas stations on the island. He filled his canister, paid for it, and emptied the contents into his car. He went to the next gas station and repeated the process. Each time he filled up the canister he checked the amount of gasoline alleged to have been sold to him. It should have been approximately .8 to .9 of a gallon in each case. He made a note of how much gasoline the machine said he purchased. He tells me that he found that each of the three gasoline dispensers stated that he had bought more than one gallon. One stated that he had purchased as much as 1.4 gallons, another 1.2 gallons. Needless to say, that is what he was charged for. None of the three gas stations recorded or charged for the correct volume dispensed.

It is conceivable that some of the gas stations on Anguilla have begun to use the US gallon instead of the Imperial gallon. But, that is unlikely for two reasons. One, it is against the law. Two, these things are standardized. In any event, why would one gasoline dispenser state that he had purchased 1.4 gallons, while another stated 1.2 gallons?

The results are sufficient to indicate to me that there are no standard measurements enforced in the sale of gasoline in Anguilla. That is what the Inspector of Weights and Measures is supposed to be checking on for our protection.

In the case of the gas station falsely claiming payment for 1.4 gallons for filling the gas canister, in particular, the proprietor should be prosecuted and his licence taken away from him. But, we need to have a properly trained inspector appointed first.

With our complete indifference in Anguilla to the need to hold to proper standards, and our cow-boy attitude to the sale of goods and services generally, in my opinion the Anguillian consumer must be one of the most exploited in the West Indies.

Related links: Sale of goods

Lawyers

Why do Anguillians not sue lawyers more often? I have credible stories recently about the activities of a lawyer in Anguilla. Two of the statements involved the lawyer helping his client to steal land from two absentee Santo Domingo Anguillian descendents. The third involved tricking a 90 year old terrified woman into signing documents that she had not requested and knew nothing about.

I asked one of my Santo Domingo informants why the attorney had not been sued. She explained that the owner lived in Santo Domingo. That person would have to be the one bringing the court action. That person is an elderly impoverished labourer and lacks the resources to bring an action in Anguilla. My informant did not have the ability to bring the suit for the client. She does not have the necessary first-hand knowledge of the facts that would be needed for admissible testimony. Nor does she have the money to spend on protecting someone else’s land. So, it looks as if the lawyer and his crooked clients may well succeed in successfully stealing the properties. All this assuming that the story I have been told is true and correct.

As for the family of the old lady, their incident relates to the same lawyer. They are not bringing any legal proceedings either. They do not believe that she could have been persuaded by the lawyer to sign over anything that would affect them. I hope they are right. As I explained to them, if they wait until she is dead to protest, it will not be very credible. They would be expected to have sued immediately they learned of the fraud. They will never be able to answer the question, whey did you not bring this claim while the old lady was still alive? It will be difficult for them to refute the allegation that they waited until the old lady died to make this claim. It will look very bad for them.

It is not that we are like some islands of the West Indies where when you complain about an important lawyer you are likely to be awakened by the police in the middle of the night and subject to a vaginal search. Our police would not have any hesitation in arresting any attorney at law in Anguilla. They would be happy to arrest some.

Is it that Anguillians are so respectful towards lawyers that even when we are robbed in this way we cannot believe that the lawyer was to blame? That does not seem very likely knowing the fiercely independent spirit of most Anguillians.

It could not be because we still believe, "It is impossible to get a lawyer in Anguilla to go against another lawyer." That nonsense cannot still be repeated.

Is it that only foreigners have the resources to pursue the crooked lawyer, and we prefer not to throw good money after bad? Surely, most Anguillians know how to find the money to defend themselves.

Is it that we have so little confidence in our judicial system that we believe the judges are part of the problem? Nonsense, this is the OECS, not Barbados.

Could it be that we simply do not know who to complain to? That is unlikely. We know there is the judge, the governor and the Chief Justice. Any of them would kick up a stink on our behalf if any credible allegation was made against an Anguillian lawyer.

Is it that we are too embarrassed to complain? Perhaps we fear we will be thought stupid by our friends and neighbours for having allowed ourselves to have been tricked? That is always possible.

Is it simply a fear of appearing to rock the boat in a small community where everyone is related to everyone else? That is the explanation of much of the acceptance of wrongdoing among our "Christian" leaders. When the pastor runs off with my wife, or the businessman impregnates two of my daughters in the same year, I learn to grin and bear it.

Is it that our expectations of our lawyers and our leaders have fallen so low that we just shrug our weary shoulders and prefer to move on? Almost certainly.

Or, is it just that we have developed such low standards for ourselves that we shrug our own shoulders and wink at another successful trickster among us? I certainly hope not.