Source: Real News Antigua
GBC and Stuart-Young breach Court Order again and ask for more time to pay Stroll
Observers are waiting to see how the High Court will rule in the latest episode concerning Jack Stroll and the Global Bank of Commerce (GBC), as the financial institution, again, has breached the Court Order in place.
According to court documents seen by REAL News, GBC and its chief executive officer, Brian Stuart-Young, applied to the Court on September 30 for a variance of its Order dated April 11, 2025.
That Order had specified that Stroll was to be paid the sum of £902,441.14 on that date, following a payment of £750,000 that had been due on July 31, both in settlement of his Sterling account. These sums were to be credited to the trust account of his Canadian attorneys.
However, the debtors have told the Court they were unable to satisfy the Order and, instead, have paid the sum of £557,125.40 toward the judgment debt.
In addition, they have requested the Court’s permission to satisfy the balance of £858,564.49 in installment payments, which the Bank aims to complete by November 28, 2025.
The debtors ask for these variances to the Court Order on the grounds that the Bank finds it “very difficult to forecast specific payments towards the GBC judgement debt,” as it continues to undergo recapitalization. However, it promises to employ its “best efforts” to clear the debt by the new date requested.
Observers say the Court should take into account what they consider the “bad faith” shown to Stroll, so far, by GBC and its CEO. This includes several previous defaults in payment – including on Stroll’s US-dollar account – as well as the Court’s prior determination that the debtors were deliberately non-compliant.
Earlier this year the Court had threatened to send Stuart-Young to jail for his failure to pay; yet, it suspended his committal even when the CEO failed again to honour the Court Order.
This opened the door to speculation among the public, with some residents charging that all persons are not equal before the Court and that political affiliation was at work in the CEO’s favour.
Stroll reportedly is off-island and could not be reached for comment on what his next moves will be.
In a related but unconfirmed story, it is alleged that a shareholder of the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) has expressed an interest in purchasing the Bank. Efforts to obtain details yielded only limited information; but it is alleged that the potential buyer might be an Asian with a company domiciled here.
Last Thursday, October 9, Offshore Alert reported that “Global Bank of Commerce, which has been allowed to operate in Antigua and Barbuda for over three years while seemingly insolvent, no longer appears on the financial regulator’s list of licensed banks.”
The online publication said it investigated the omission and was told by Stuart-Young that “the bank’s license has not been suspended or revoked and [that] it was attempting ‘to transition to a Digital Bank.’”
