The Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Financial Company was set up on Monday.
Finance Minister Errol Cort said they averted a disaster.
“What we as the government, the ECCB (Eastern Caribbean Central Bank) and the various indigenous banks have been able to achieve is an incredible feat.“In essence we were able to successfully avert a disaster,” he said.
"Volatile environment"
The Director of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank(ECCB) has been talking about the challenging circumstances which have led to the formation of the sub-region's newest commercial bank.
Last Friday the ECCB seized control of the Stanford bank.
Mr Stanford is being investigated by US authorities on fraud allegations.
The Stanford affair is expected to be a prominent issue in the campaign for general elections scheduled for 12 March in Antigua and Barbuda.
To ECCB Director General Sir Dwight Venner it was a volatile mix.
"This is a very unstable and volatile environment", he said, "and not the most conducive for conducting such a delicate exercise."
Strike call
The leader of Guadeloupe's umbrella trade union body has called for a general strike to be resumed.
Elie Domota made the call on Monday in a speech to workers after more than 10 hours of talks with employers failed to a reach agreement over pay.
The unions are demanding an increase in salaries of 200 euros - about 250 US dollars.
All but one of the employer groups have agreed to a formula to give them 100 euros, asking the French government to make up the shortfall for 3 years.
The French government representative at the negotiations said on Monday evening that the state had already made it clear there was nothing more to give.
The unions say they expect an answer on Tuesday from the French government.
US-Caribbean "bridge"
The governor of United States Virgin Islands has said that he sees the US territory as a bridge between Washington and the Caribbean.
Governor John deJongh was speaking in the US capital after a meeting with White House officials.
He was among governors who met principally to discuss the economic stimulus plan of the Obama administration:
Governor deJongh said he told White House officials that he wanted the views of the Virgin Islands and other offshore territories to be seriously considered rather than regarded as an afterthought.
The bottom billion
A report for the United Nations says the world's poorest countries should move away from selling their natural resources and concentrate instead on manufacturing.
The UN's Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says that making components for manufactured goods would be the best way to lift out of poverty what's called the "bottom billion".
The report says that, by contrast, poor countries heavily reliant on their raw materials tend to distribute wealth among relatively few people.
--BBC Caribbean.com
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