Royal Bank Should Be Ashamed Of Itself

The Royal Bank of Canada has announced that it will be closing four branches in the country all in the family islands but one which is at the Lynden Pindling International Airport.  The action is reprehensible.  We always thought that part of the bargain that a company like RBC made in this country is that in exchange for the government’s business and the right to make money here on the international markets, the bank would service far flung communities.  With the closure of the branches in Spanish Wells, Harbour Island and Bimini, there are no banks left and in those communities.  We think that the Bank of The Bahamas should step up to the plate immediately and fill the service void left by the departure of the Royal Bank of Canada.  But we also think that we ought to say shame on the Royal Bank of Canada.  That’s why we see the moniker rapacious capitalist being applied around the world to so many of these institutions.