Cassell Jr. Nominated for Bank of Montserrat Board Seat; Loses Bid

OLVESTON, Montserrat – Thursday May 31, 2018 – Shareholders who owned 2.07% of the total outstanding stock of the Bank of Montserrat Limited voted to elect Warren Cassell Jr. to the company’s board of directors at the 24th annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders held on May 30, 2018. This figure represents shareholders whose shares had a combined market value of EC$657,618 (US$243,562). Despite this, Cassell Jr., a 19-year old third-year accounting student at the George Washington University, still fell short of winning a board seat from one of the three incumbent directors who were up for reelection.

The Bank of Montserrat is the only indigenous bank operating on the island of Montserrat. Last year, the bank recorded a net profit of EC$2,422,782 (US$897,327) and its total shareholders’ equity stood at EC$28,559,997 (US$10,577,777). The Government of Montserrat (GoM) is the bank’s largest shareholder owning approximately 62% or 3,085,075 of shares in the bank. The second largest shareholder, Bruce Farara, owns 3.1% or 151,667 shares in the bank.

Last week Friday, the bank received formal notice from local businessman Joel Osborne, who was also nominated, of his intent to propose Cassell’s election to the board of directors. The resolution to elect Cassell Jr. was seconded at the AGM by Mr. Bennette Roach, owner of island’s only newspaper The Montserrat Reporter.

This year, three of the bank’s directors were eligible for reelection: Mrs. Venita Cabey (the Chairman), Mr. Bruce Farara and Mr. John Ryan. The GoM casted their majority shares in support to reelect these directors. The final results were: 
Mrs. Venita Cabey: 3,655,319 votes; 
Mr. Bruce Farara: 3,634,107 votes; 
Mr. John Ryan: 3,582,470 votes; 
Mr. Warren Cassell Jr.: 101,172; 
Mr. Joel Osborne: 20,835.

Earlier this month, Cassell Jr. publicly expressed concerns about the bank’s additional public offering (APO). He described the APO’s prospectus as “misleading” stating that certain statements made by the bank would lead “potential investors to think that the shares they are being offered to buy are worth more than they actually are.”