March 12, 2002

Dear Sir,

The interview with the recently retired head of the Bank of Butterfield confirms that old maxim that it is better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and confirm the fact.

How sad that after a fifty year banking career Mr. Johnston had to bad-mouth his predecessor, previous management, and colleagues - all of whom are, incidentally, customers of the bank. I am afraid the legend he has created is in his own mind.

Most of us who deal with the bank know that an answering machine is no substitute for service, and the monopoly position that the banks enjoy in Bermuda today allows them to get away with outrageous charges that no other bank in the world enjoys.

It is an old trick in business reorganisation to write off everything you can when you come in, and then enjoy a clean slate to start with. It would be interesting to know what percentage of these write-offs have been written back in as profits, thus contributing to the steady income growth we have seen for the last several years.

While Mr. Johnson is relaxing in St. Maarten he might reflect on one of the other legacies he has left us....a big increase in work permits, and scarcely a face at the bank Bermudians recognise.

REAL LIFE

City of Hamilton