The Herald, wishes to apologise to the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and state unequivocally that our April 3, 2017 publication was not in any way intended to harm the reputable bank.

It was also not intended to bring its reputation into disrepute or to injure the reputation of any of its managers, shareholders or board of directors.

We nonetheless, retract the story and unreservedly apologize for any harm caused the bank, its managers, shareholders and board of directors led by Mrs. Betty Zormelo.

If for anything, the publication, has offered the UMB the opportunity to restate with emphasis its ownership, which has become the subject of political controversy.

Nonetheless, we retract and apologize.

We republish below the bank’s rejoinder unedited sent to us last week.