by Linda Straker
- Grenada Development Bank became a body corporate of Government in 1976
- Bank completed draft (Amendment) Bill to amend GDB Act Cap 129
- Andrea St Bernard has been serving as Chairman since August 2022
The Grenada Development Bank (GDB) may soon be able to issue shares and accept deposits from customers if the Cabinet of Ministers approves a recommendation to expand the functions of the bank which became a body corporate of Government in 1976.
Government is yet to issue a public statement or have a consultation on the recommendation, but the draft amendment to the GDB legislation has been submitted to Cabinet for approval.
“The Grenada Development Bank (GDB) completed a draft (Amendment) Bill to amend the GDB Act Cap 129. The Bill seeks to expand the functions of the Bank, to authorise the Bank to issue shares and accept certain types of deposits from customers as well as strengthen its governance. The Bill was submitted to Cabinet for its consideration,” said the 2022 Annual Report of the Grenada Authority for the Regulations of Financial Institutions (GARFIN) under the topic Legislative Review.
The report, available on the authority’s website, was submitted to Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall on 23 November 2023 and is yet to be laid in the Lower House of Parliament. It is the duty of the Finance Minister to lay the report in Parliament.
GARFIN is charged with the responsibility of regulating and supervising the Non-Bank Financial Sector in Grenada with the primary objectives of ensuring the protection of financial consumers, the well-being of regulated entities and the maintenance of financial stability.
According to the GDB legislation, the functions of the Bank are to—
- assist persons to establish, carry on or expand development enterprises by participating in share capital, granting loans and providing other forms of financial assistance to such persons
- assist persons to pursue courses of higher, technical and vocational education by providing loans and other forms of financial assistance
- foster the development of monies and capital markets in Grenada;
- mobilise and co-ordinate available resources to be utilised in financing industrial and agricultural projects in Grenada, and
- grant loans to persons for the construction, extension, alteration, improvement or repair of dwelling houses on land owned or leased by them
The current Board of Directors of the GDB:
- Andrea St Bernard — Chairman serving since August 2022
- Earl Brathwaite — Deputy Chairman
- Val Antoine — Director
- Ramona Otway — Director
- Patrick Simmons — Director
- Danika Cherman — Director
- Trevor St Bernard — Director
- Rolanda McQueen — Director
- Royston Cumberbatch — Director and Managing Director
