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NOT A lot of
people know this, but apparently one of the world's top ten banks
measured by revenues has surfaced in the unlikely place of the
Caribbean island of Grenada.
First International Bank of Grenada reckons it achieved $26 billion
in gross income in its first full year of business - ranking up
there with institutions like Bank One, the fourth-largest US bank
with 1999 revenues at the same level.
The bank, which has a handsome website at
www.firstbank.to,
apparently pays interest of up to 250 percent. It adds that it was
incorporated by the Grenada government in October 1997 and licensed
as a Class 1 offshore bank (licence number 0005), and operates as an
Internet-only venture.
We are thus completely taken by surprise to learn that
Offshore Alert, a Miami-based
industry newsletter, is being sued by the bank's owners for libel,
after allegations concerning Grenadian offshore banking. |
