Brathwaite says banks garnishing severance pay would be “very unusual”, but notes he cannot speak for every institution
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Clearing Banks Association (CBA) President Kenrick Brathwaite yesterday assured that all banks to some degree have been working with struggling borrowers who needed reprieve during the height of the pandemic.
Brathwaite, while speaking with Eyewitness News, noted some banks have provided loan waivers for up to a nine months to a year in some instances.
He declined to comment on claims that some Atlantis workers recently made redundant saw most of their severance packages garnished by banks, other than to note that such instances would be “very unusual” and “impractical” in circumstances where individuals had been in good standing.
“We had been working with persons — all the banks have worked with their customers in different ways. Some banks gave blanket waivers, some banks gave persons the opportunity to come in and request a waiver and some banks selectively decided which accounts they would waive payments on,” Brathwaite said.
“In any event, all persons who needed assistance for a period of nine to 12 months got it.
“With the waiver, there is no such thing as an accumulation of payments so there would be no need to pull out of anyone’s severance. I can’t comment on all the banks but that doesn’t sound reasonable or even practical to me.”
Two weeks ago, Atlantis President and Managing Director Audrey Oswell in a letter noted that significant losses incurred by the resort during the pandemic had forced it to drastically cut costs in “nearly every corner”, including its 7,300-strong workforce, from which it made 700 employees redundant.
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