News about the bank: Archives
Here you can read and download news items related to the Bank of St. Helena. (For staff news please click here.)
Where documents are in PDF format, to read them you will need a PDF reader (Version 6.0 or later). If you do not have one you can obtain one (free) from www.adobe.com. If you need information regarding visual impairment issues please consult the Adobe Accessibility website at http://access.adobe.com/. (The Bank of St. Helena takes no responsibility for external sites.)
Index:
PRESS RELEASE: New Manager for Bank of St. Helena (September 2007)
An exciting new role ... (May 2007)
Important Announcement for Businesses (March 2007)
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: Bank Teller, Jamestown (October 2006)
Cheque Book "Summer Sale" (October 2006)
Investing in St. Helena (July 2006)
Cheque Book Scheme Pilot - Update (February 2006)
Good News for Entrepreneur School Participants (January 2006)
Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Conclusion (December 2005)
Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Update (November 2005)
Special Foreign Cheque Processing (November 2005)
Cheque Books Update (October 2005)
Cheque Books (October 2005)
Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Update (October 2005)
Bank of St. Helena Auditied Accounts for 2004/2005 (September 2005)
Bank of St. Helena Youth Games (August 2005)
UK Fax Number (August 2005)
Exchange Rates Updates By Email (August 2005)
Business Continuity Facilities (June 2005)
PRESS RELEASE: New Manager for Bank of St. Helena (September 2007)
The Board of the Bank of St. Helena is pleased to announce that Ms Rosemary Bargo has today been appointed Manager-Designate, and will take over as Manager of the bank on 1st April 2008.
This appointment has been approved by the bank’s regulators, the St. Helena Banking Supervisory Authority, and by His Excellency the Governor.
When Ms Bargo takes over running the bank the current Manager, John Turner, will continue to work for the bank in an advisory capacity.
Brief CV
After working in banking overseas Rosie joined the bank’s predecessor, the Government Savings Bank, in 2003. She assisted with the creation of Bank of St. Helena, which took place in April 2004, and was appointed its Chief Operations Officer in August 2005, a role which has given her day-to-day management of all the operating activities of the bank.
Comments
The Directors, Staff and Supervisory Authority all warmly congratulate Rosie on her appointment.
John Turner, the current Manager, said: "I’m delighted to be handing over running of the bank to Rosie, whose skills, drive and enthusiasm are exactly what is needed to take the bank forward. I hope the whole community will congratulate her on becoming the first Saint Helenian to run St. Helena’s bank."
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An exciting new role ... (May 2007)
Bank of St. Helena has created an exciting new role and is looking for someone dynamic to fill it. Are you the personality we are looking for? Please see our Documents page to download a copy of the recruitment advertisement.
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Important Announcement for Businesses (March 2007)
The Bank of St. Helena will be making an important announcment for businesses on Friday 30th March 2007.
The announcment will be made:
On this website
In the St. Helena Newspapers
On the St. Helena radio stations
Please make sure you don’t miss this announcment.
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VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: Bank Teller, Jamestown (October 2006)
Applications are invited for a person to fill the post of Teller at the Bank of St. Helena, to work in Jamestown.
The Salary for the post will commence at GBP4,400.00 per annum, plus an attractive benefits package.
The duties are primarily to serve customers at the bank counter in Jamestown. Full training will be given.
Applicants should have an aptitude for figures and are likely to have GCSE English and Maths. In addition, Tellers have significant contact with the public, so the successful candidate must demonstrate courtesy and the ability to work well with others as part of a team.
Please obtain details and an application either from the bank or from this website.
Applications must be submitted no later than 31st October 2006.
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Cheque Book "Summer Sale" (October 2006)
Bank of St. Helena is having a "Summer Sale" on Cheque Books.
During the "Sale" the normal charge to cover the cost of printing the cheque book will be waived.
New cheque books and renewals are free until 31st March 2007.
Cheque books are issued subject to status and must be requested on the application form, available from the bank or the bank’s website. Cheque books already ordered but not delivered by 25th September 2006 will be supplied without charge. After 31st March 2007 normal charges will apply.
Click here for more information on Bank of St. Helena Cheque Books.
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Investing in St. Helena (July 2006)
The Government of St. Helena has issued for public consultation the first draft of the new Investment Policy for St. Helena.
According to the document the new draft policy demonstrates "the Government of St Helena’s commitment and pro-active stance towards securing greater levels of investment for the Island".
The draft policy documents can be downloaded from the Government of St. Helena website.
Bank of St. Helena welcomes this move towards promoting investment in St. Helena.
Please note that Bank of St. Helena is permitted to open accounts and provide services to Approved Investors, even if they are not St. Helenians (please see the Documents page for our account opening Terms & Conditions).
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Cheque Book Scheme Pilot - Update (February 2006)
The Bank has reviewed the status of the Cheque Book Scheme Pilot and decided that it should continue to run, unchanged, until the agreed end date - 31st March 2006.
Feedback from the pilot users has been positive and encouraging. The cheques seem to be widely accepted, and customers report that they are a useful addition to the bank’s service offering.
Feedback includes suggestions for changes to the scheme. One such has been a request to use slightly thinner paper, thus reducing the size and weight of the cheque book. Following discussions with Printech St. Helena it has been decided that, following completion of the pilot, cheque forms will be printed on 85g paper, rather than the 160gsm paper used for the pilot. This makes the resulting cheque book about half as thick as the pilot scheme books. It is believed that such cheques will be more convenient, while retaining the necessary level of durability.
The bank is also considering whether to support the writing of cheques made payable to "cash". This would allow a cheque book holder to write a cheque to make payment to a non-account holder, who would present the cheque at the bank and receive cash. While initially attractive, the bank is concerned that this might introduce a level of risk into the scheme, whereby a stolen cheque book could be used to draw cash and there would be no certain way to trace the recipient. The bank is investigating this option further, but for the time being it remains that all cheques can only be made payable to a person or organisation that has a bank account and must be paid into that account.
Further comments on the pilot scheme are welcome. Please see our contacts page for contact details.
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Good News for Entrepreneur School Participants (January 2006)
Bank of St. Helena strongly supports the Entrepreneur School being run by the St. Helena Development Agency (SHDA), and wants all those who participate to have the best possible chance of starting a successful business.
To help make this happen, each person that attends the Entrepreneur School will be given the opportunity to apply for a loan-cost rebate of value GBP250 from Bank of St. Helena for their new business.
This will make your loan cheaper in those critical early months, which means your new business has a much greater chance of success.
A paper explaining the details, and giving examples, will be given to every participant at the end of the event.
SHDA is running the Entrepreneur School from 11th to 17th January 2006. Details are available from SHDA.
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Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Conclusion (December 2005)
The 2005 Bank of St. Helena Youth Games concluded on Friday evening 2nd December with the swimming competition and the declaration of the winning district.
The winning district, Half Tree Hollow, will receive a trophy shortly which will be displayed in the New Horizons centre.
Lyn Thomas, speaking for the Bank of St. Helena, congratulated the team from Half Tree Hollow on winning the competition, the organisers for a well run event, and all who took part for their efforts.
For more details on the games please go to www.youthgames.sainthelenabank.com.
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Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Update (November 2005)
The 2005 Bank of St Helena Youth Games started on Saturday 19th November with an opening ceremony on Francis Plain.
In his welcoming speech, our manager, John Turner, said:
Michael has asked me to say a few words on behalf of the bank, and he emphasised the word "few" so I’ll be brief. I’m sure you’d rather be getting on with the sports than listening to a long speech.
As you know, His Excellency the Governor is off to Ascension today, so could not be here, but he has sent a message which is as follows:
"I’m delighted that the Bank of St. Helena Youth games is taking place, and encourage all to take part in a spirit of healthy competition"
I couldn’t have put it better, so all that remains is for me to declare the games now open; offer best wishes all the competitors and supporters; and hand over to Dale to explain the arrangements for today.
For more details on the games please go to www.youthgames.sainthelenabank.com.
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Special Foreign Cheque Processing (November 2005)
Please note that the Bank of St. Helena can only normally accept for payment:
Cheques drawn in Sterling on a UK Bank; and
International Standard Travellers Cheques in US Dollars, euro and Pounds Sterling.
Other cheques may, at the manager’s discretion, be accepted, for clearing on a ‘Strict Collect’ basis:
‘STRICT COLLECT’ CLEARING
Where a cheque is accepted for clearing on a ‘Strict Collect’ basis, we will send the cheque to Lloyds TSB Bank in the UK for processing.
When we receive payment we will credit your account with whatever amount we receive.
The charges for this service must be paid before the cheque is sent for processing.
At the time of writing the fee for this service is two-percent of the value of the cheque (using the bank’s exchange rate applicable at the time the cheque is accepted), with a minimum charge of five pounds.
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Cheque Books Update (October 2005)
The Bank of St. Helena will shortly be launching a pilot Cheque Scheme for St. Helena.
Please click here for a summary of how the scheme will operate. A detailed description providing more information will be issued to business and personal customers in the coming weeks.
Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns regarding the operation of the scheme.
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Cheque Books (October 2005)
Bank of St. Helena is pleased to announce that it will shortly be commencing a pilot Cheque Book Scheme.
In the pilot scheme, people and businesses on St. Helena will be able to effect payment to each other by cheque.
The bank will now begin contacting retailers, utilities and others who are likely to be asked to accept cheques as payment, to explain the scheme to them and answer any questions they may have.
It will also be identifying customers to take part in the scheme by carrying cheque books and using cheques for payment.
The cheque books for the pilot scheme will be printed in St. Helena by Printech St. Helena.
It is expected that the pilot scheme will run throughout the summer. Further details will be announced soon.
Any queries should be directed to:
John Turner, Manager (Please see the Contacts Page for contact details.)
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Bank of St. Helena Youth Games - Update (October 2005)
Friday 23rd September 2005 saw the official launch of the 2005 Bank of St Helena Youth Games to the young people with a presentation at Prince Andrew School.
Over the past week around 100 registration forms were handed out. To date some 50 young people have registered to take part in the 11 events on offer. Michael Stevens - Youth Leader of New Horizons, commented "I am delighted by the response so far, and I am sure this number will continue to grow over the coming weeks"
The Bank of St Helena Youth Games will take place at various locations from the 19th November to the 2nd December 2005, and is open to all young people age 12 - 18 years.
11 events are on offer, with a total of 288 medals for the taking, for both the individual and team events.
The young people will be competing in these 11 events for the Bronze, Sliver and Gold medals. In addition they will be competing under the district in which they reside, for the Bank of St Helena Youth Games District Cup - this will be decided by the district winning the most Gold medals.
The districts are as follows: 1. Longwood, Levelwood and Alarm Forest. 2. Half Tree Hollow. 3. St Paul’s. 4. Jamestown, Sandy Bay & Blue Hill.
In addition, the best all-round male and female performance of the games will determine who wins the Sportsman and Sportswoman Cup.
Registrations forms are available from New Horizons and the Prince Andrew School’s office, and can be returned to both places.
The full press release, including the detail of the event sponsors, can be downloaded, in PDF format, from the Documents section.
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Bank of St. Helena Auditied Accounts for 2004/2005 (September 2005)
Bank of St. Helena is pleased to publish its Directors’ Report and Audited Financial Statements for the Financial Year 2004/2005, the bank’s first year of operation.
The directors are happy that the bank has achieved sustained growth during its first year of operation. Deposits and loans have shown a solid month-on-month increase throughout the year.
Although the Bank made a small overall loss for the year, the profitability of the bank improved steadily during the year. On a month by month basis the Bank has been profitable since September.
As can be seen from the accompanying document, the lending book has expanded throughout the year. So far there are no significant problems with bad debts.
Lending, particularly commercial lending, remains a key engine of economic growth, and will be an important aspect of the economic uplift that the 2005 Air Access decision is expected to provide. The directors wish the bank to be seen as the natural source of funds for commercial development by businesses in St. Helena.
Despite the growth in account balances, it is the directors’ belief that there remains a quantity of unbanked funds in St. Helena. The bank will continue to offer an attractive rate of interest and flexible, largely charge-free banking, with the aim of attracting into the bank more of these funds.
The Bank has also introduced a more efficient and cost effective system of remitting funds to and from the Island. This, together with improved foreign exchange facilities, has provided a significant growth in fee income.
The Directors’ Report and Audited Financial Statements for the Financial Year 2004/2005 can be downloaded, in PDF format, from the Documents section. A printed copy is available in every office.
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Bank of St. Helena Youth Games (August 2005)
Joint Press Release - Bank of St. Helena and New Horizons
Bank of St. Helena and New Horizons are pleased to announce that the bank will be the lead sponsor for the 2005 Youth Games. The games will now be known as the "Bank of St. Helena Youth Games".
Speaking of the agreement John Turner, Managing Director, Bank of St. Helena said: "Bank of St. Helena is delighted to sponsor an event that will encourage the development of sporting skills within the young people of St. Helena. I hope others will join with us in making the games a success."
Michael Stevens, Youth Leader of New Horizons said: "I am thrilled the Bank of St. Helena has invested in young people and sports, by becoming the lead sponsor of the games. Not only is the bank ensuring the games are a success, but are helping in building for the future, young peoples’ participation in international events like the Commonwealth and Island Games."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Bank of St. Helena Youth Games will take place in St. Helena from 19th November - 2nd December 2005.
Participation will be open to all young people aged 12 to 18 years.
There will be eleven events, taking place in various locations: Athletics; Badminton; Basketball; 5 a side Football; Golf; Netball; Pool; Shooting; Swimming; Table Tennis; and Volley Ball.
Bank of St. Helena will cover the administrative costs of the games. Other organisations and individuals are encouraged to sponsor prizes for individual events.
CONTACT DETAILS
Bank of St. Helena
Please click here for the bank’s contact details
New Horizons
The Arch, Jamestown, St. Helena
Tel: (+290) 2034; Email: youth@helanta.sh
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UK Fax Number (August 2005)
Please note: The UK Fax Number is no longer operational.
Bank of St. Helena now has a UK fax number, so those in the UK can send fax messages to us without the need to pay international rates.
The UK number is 08712 473 182
Others outside the UK may also wish to use this number (which would be dialled as +44 8712 473 182) where call charges to the UK are cheaper than to St. Helena.
Please Note: Faxes sent to our UK number are delivered through the eFax service, and are delivered by email, so could be seen by others. The Bank of St. Helena cannot accept liability for the consequences of your messages being intercepted by any third party.
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Exchange Rates Updates By Email (August 2005)
Bank of St. Helena is now able to distribute its exchange rates updates by email.
This service is free.
If you would like to know more about the Exchange Rates By Email service please look at "Exchange Rates" on the menu.
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Business Continuity Facilities (June 2005)
Bank of St. Helena is pleased to announce that it has signed agreements with Cable & Wireless (St. Helena) for the provision of Business Continuity Facilities.
The facilities are now being installed. Once the installation is completed, a copy of the bank’s computer data will be stored in a secure location away from the bank’s main building in Jamestown. Should an incident make it impossible for the bank to operate from its usual premises, it will be able quickly to set up an emergency banking facility in an alternative location, with full access to the bank’s computer records.
Managing Director John Turner said: "Our aim is to be able to continue providing service to our customers whatever happens. This autumn’s rock-fall incidents have confirmed the need for a facility such as this".
NOTES:
Business Continuity Facilities (sometimes referred to as "disaster recovery capability") allow an organisation to continue operating in the event that an incident such as a major fire or, in the case of St. Helena, a rock-fall, makes its usual premises unavailable.
Most organisations take copies of critical data and store them away from the main premises. However, a proper Business Continuity Facility such as the one announced here also provides the necessary equipment and links to allow the business to operate in an as-near-normal-as-possible mode from an alternative location, with full access to the organisation’s computer and other critical records.
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