Sir William Allen
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NASSAU, The Bahamas – Former Governor of the Central Bank, Sir William Allen passed away today.
Sir William served the nation as a Senator, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, and as Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas.
In his political career, Sir William was elected to the House of Assembly, representing the constituency of Montagu for the Free National Movement, unopposed, in a by-‐election November 10, 1994.
He was born in Nassau on March 15, 1937 and obtained his education at St. Augustine's College in Nassau and Rhodes School in New York City. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from New York University and a Master’s Degree in International Finance from Baruch College of City University of New York.
Sir William served as internal auditor at the New York investment banking firm of Stone and Webster Securities Corporation from 1965 to 1968, and as budget supervisor at J.C. Penney Company's New York headquarters from 1968 to 1970.
He joined The Bahamas Monetary Authority as manager of research in 1970. He was named Deputy Governor of The Central Bank, successor to the authority, in 1974.
Sir William became Governor of the Central Bank in 1980 on the resignation of Timothy Baswell Donaldson from the post. He also served as the Alternate Governor of The International Monetary Fund for The Bahamas.
He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bahamasair from 1973 to 1980, and continued as a Deputy Chairman during his governorship of The Central Bank. He has also served as Deputy Chairman of The Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. He held responsibilities for privatization, relations with the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation and with Bahamasair, and Cable Bahamas. And is credited with oversight of developing the legal and regulatory framework for The Bahamas to become a major centre for electronic commerce.
Sir William resigned as Governor of the Central Bank on January 31, 1987, and became president of Matrix Investment Limited, an investment trading firm.
He was president of the Scout Association of The Bahamas, and deputy president and executive committee member of the Bahamas National Trust.
He was knighted in The Queen's New Year 2000 Honours.
