A senior source at the bank said that this acquisition had nothing to do with the reports in the Barbados press on Friday that Bank of Butterfield was set to buy up a bank there.
Bank of Butterfield has bought out the private bank Thorand Bank and Trust Ltd. of Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas.
Thorand Bank was established in 1960, provides private banking, trust and other fiduciary services to private and institutional clients and says on a website link that it is “committed to ensuring that preferred clients’ affairs are managed in a discreet manner and understands that each relationship is unique”. Graham Brooks, executive vice president, international and trust, Bank of Butterfield said: “This is an important development for Bank of Butterfield.
“We have acquired a solid base on which to build in a major international private banking and wealth management market.”
He added that Thorand has an excellent client base and that Bank of Butterfield has been impressed by the company’s enthusiastic and skilled employees.
He also said the Central Bank of the Bahamas and the management of Thorand Bank had been very helpful during the negotiations to complete this transaction.
Bank of Butterfield president and chief executive officer, Alan Thompson said: “We have now achieved a strategic objective by entering the Bahamas, a jurisdiction which has shown commitment and success in developing a quality international business environment.
“In line with our strategy, we will concentrate on the delivery of a range of our core services including private banking, wealth management and investment and pension fund administration. We are pleased to be part of the financial services community in The Bahamas and look forward to working closely with our new team.”
Thorand Bank will be “shortly” renamed Bank of Butterfield (Bahamas) Ltd, and Robert Lotmore, who is currently president of Thorand, will continue to lead the business in the capacity of managing director, the bank said.
Attempts by The Royal Gazette to obtain more information on the bank over the weekend proved fruitless. The company’s website, www.Thorand.com, is not currently running with all its information and sparse details about the company appear on the Internet.
On Friday a report in the Bajan newspaper, the Daily Nation, said that Bank Butterfield is set to buy up Barbados’ last indigenous bank.
But officials at Bermuda’s oldest bank refused to comment on the buy-out, stating it did not comment on speculation.
The Daily Nation report states: “It is almost a done deal! The sale of Barbados’ last indigenous bank, The Mutual Bank, a subsidiary of Sagicor, to the Bank of Butterfield of Bermuda is almost completed.”
It went on to say that Sagicor is now awaiting the approval of the regulatory authorities, the Central Bank in Barbados.
The story quotes “sources” at the Central Bank who it said told the Weekend Nation the process was being carried out and he believed it was almost finished.
The only area where a problem could arise, was if authorities in Bermuda did not approve the sale, the newspaper said the sources said.
It went on to say that Butterfield already operates an offshore bank in Barbados, which the Central Bank carried out the due diligence process on before it could be established.
By Mairi Mallon, The Royal Gazette
