By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan
July 19, 2022
In what appears to be a twist of events, the National Bank of Dominica Limited along with First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited has announced that they will not proceed with the sale and purchase of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s assets in Dominica.
The bank put out a statement on Monday confirming the decision, which comes a mere few days after First Caribbean International Bank Limited announced its sale of its business to two indigenous banks in the Eastern Caribbean had received approval from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
In October 2021, a consortium of commercial banks in the Eastern Caribbean announced that it had entered into an agreement with CIBC First Caribbean to acquire its branches and banking operations in Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
CIBC confirmed the sale of its assets in Dominica would not proceed as announced due to the National Bank of Dominica having a change in its strategic direction, which it says does not include an acquisition at this time.
While the sale of the Caribbean bank’s business in five countries, Aruba, St. Vincent, Grenada, and St. Kitts & Nevis and Dominica, was also announced in October of 2021, only the Aruba sale was completed earlier this year.
CIBC says it has only recently commenced the process of transferring its clients to the Bank of St. Vincent & Grenadines Limited in St. Vincent and St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla National Bank in St. Kitts, a process it anticipates to take several months before completion.
In a release, CIBC First Caribbean’s CEO, Colette Delaney, shared “We are pleased at the approval of the sales in St. Vincent and St. Kitts. This helps us deliver on our strategy of simplifying our business. It’s a complex set of transactions and it will be some months before we complete the transfer of client accounts over to the purchasing banks. In the interim, we will continue to provide our clients with first class service through a modern everyday banking experience and our employees with the best possible work experience.”
In the meantime, the bank says involved parties continue to discuss and negotiate key aspects of the transaction in the proposed sale of CIBC First Caribbean’s assets to Grenada Co-operative Bank Limited.
The bank in recent years has scaled down numerous brick and mortar spaces, opting for the push of its services as digital and self service online.