Page 90 - SARB: 100-Year Journey

The business of the Bank’s Board
The Board’s earliest meetings were tasked with the business of making regulations to activate the powers vested in the Bank by legislation, such as determining how much money to have in circulation or how it would relate to commercial banks. As these basic foundations were laid, other mundane business began to creep into the Board’s agenda.
While the Board may have wanted to make certain that the establishment of the institution was proceeding as planned, some of the agenda items appear ridiculous today. Every employee, their job title and salary were specifically noted by the Board. At each meeting, the Governor submitted a detailed list of new employees or those who had resigned, regardless of their station in the Bank.
Consequently, the hiring or resignation of a security guard, called a ‘night watchman’ in those days, was noted by the
Board. The same applied to any increase in salary of every employee of the SARB.
The Governor and Deputy Governor were given significant latitude to make wide-ranging decisions, some of which are strictly regulated today as they would constitute a conflict of interest. Founding Governor William Clegg was given permission by the Board to build a residence and then recoup the cost from the Bank.
Neither the size nor cost of the residence were agreed to in advance. It was left up to Clegg to build a residence “of his liking”, the records show. Clegg built the residence, which was sold when his tenure ended and he returned to the United Kingdom.
Years later, the SARB built an official residence to be occupied by governors during their tenure.
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Extract from the minutes of the first SARB Board meeting held on 29 July 1921, discussing the building of a residence for Governor Clegg. /SARB