Sanitoa: “ANZ Bank ending operations is a concern”

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Tuala-uta Representative Larry Sanitoa officially mentioned during House Session last week that since December of last year there’s been talk about ANZ Bank leaving the territory.

According to Sanitoa, senior executives of ANZ Bank were in the territory last December and from what he’s learned, the bank plans to end its operations in American Samoa some time this year.

He said he talked with one of the directors of the bank who said they are now waiting for when that will happen. (Samoa News should point out that there has been no public announcement by ANZ of it’s departure from the territory.)

The Tuala-uta lawmaker said ANZ is the only FDIC insured bank in the territory and it behooves the House to find out the government’s plans in the event the bank does leave the territory.

Sanitoa, a member of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid American Samoa says their federal grant of $300,000 annually, must be deposited into an FDIC insured bank account.

He urged the House Commerce Committee to start making inquiries now about preparations by the Territorial Bank of American Samoa, for when ANZ departs.

Speaker of the House Savali Talavou Ale echoed Sanitoa’s statement and advised the chair of the House Committee handing the issue related to the bank to seriously consider the matter at hand.