He said he had moved all his company's money off the island years earlier out of fear that the banking system would eventually collapse, and he suspected it wouldn't be a pretty sight when banks reopen.

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When the Fed was first created, in 1913, its Wall Street progenitors had to meet in secret at the exclusive Jekyll Island Club in Georgia, for fear that the new institution would be characterised as a "bankers' cabal".

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After that, it was thought he would have little to fear in the comparatively sleepy backwater of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.

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But some residents fear that could change if a plan to build a bridge linking the island to the city goes through.

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