After months of waiting regulatory approval to marry their operations, officials of Barclays Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced Thursday that they expect to begin operations as FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited on Monday.
“We are delighted to announce that we now have received the necessary approvals to proceed with the combination of our operations and create FirstCaribbean International Bank,” said Michael Mansoor, President and CEO of CIBC West Indies and Executive Chairman-designate of FirstCaribbean.
Officials of the new institution said FirstCaribbean is committed to building a Caribbean bank founded on the strength, tradition and integrity of the founding institutions.
“The creation of FirstCaribbean represents a major step in the evolution of financial services in the region,” said Charles Pink, managing director of Barclays and CEO-designate of FirstCaribbean. “The additional resources of the new company will allow us to improve our customers’ experience and become a more significant player in the Caribbean economy.
“We are confident that FirstCaribbean will bring greater benefits to our customers, employees and the broader communities where we are located.”
FirstCaribbean will bring together two complementary and leading financial services businesses in the Caribbean, offering customers enhanced products and improved and extended access to banking services.
The boards of Barclays, CIBC and CIBC West Indies Holdings (CWIHL) believe that its merger is in the interests of their respective shareholders and will provide benefits and opportunities for customers, staff and the relevant businesses, which could be achieved either by operation or on a standalone basis.
Charles Middleton, the Barclays Regional Director, said that the creation of FirstCaribbean, represents a major step in the evolution of financial services in the region.
“The additional resources of the new company will allow us to improve our customers’ experience and become a more significant player in the Caribbean economy.”
FirstCaribbean will have approximately: 87 branches and 123 automatic teller machines, operations in 15 Caribbean countries, 800,000 accounts, some 31,000 employees, aggregated assets of US$9.9 billion and an aggregated net income before tax of US$174 million. Barclays and CIBC will each own 666 million voting common shares, representing 45 percent of the voting common share capital of FirstCaribbean, with the remainder held publicly.
FirstCaribbean will maintain the existing listings of CIBC Bahamas Limited in the Bahamas and CIBC Jamaica Limited in Jamiaca. Both will be renamed FirstCaribbean (Bahamas) Limited and FirstJamaican International Bank Limited respectively.
Public shareholders of CWIHL and CIBC Bahamas, will have the opportunity to subscribe for additional shares in FirstCaribbean, as part of the transaction. Both banks intend to increase their local public holding in FirstCaribbean International Bank Holdings Limited to 20 percent over time.
Michael Mansoor said that increased local ownership of FirstCaribbean over time will allow investors in the region to share in the long term growth of the company.
“They will benefit from our future success. This underlies our commitment to be a partner with the communities in which FirstCaribbean operates and contributes to their future prosperity.”
Barclays bank, headquartered in Barbados, is one of the largest financial services in the UK with operations throughout the world. Barclays established a branch network in the Caribbean in 1837. Barclays now has operations in 14 countries across 25 islands and 45 outlets covering an area of 2500 miles by 1500 miles.
Barclays Caribbean Branch employs approximately 1500 staff, serving 400,000 accounts, 345,000 onshore retail, 30,000 onshore corporate and 25,000 offshore customers. Corporate and personal banking services are offered in all 14 countries and offshore banking services are offered in five countries, including the Bahamas.
CIBC, one of North America’s leading financial institutions, as measured by assets with more than eight million personal banking and business customers, was first established in the Caribbean in 1920.
CIBC employs approximately 1600 staff, serving 350,000 retail and commercial clients at 42 branches and offices in the Caribbean. Over the year, CIBC has reorganized all of its retail banking operations in the Caribbean under the umbrella of a holding company, CIBC West Indies Holdings Limited.
