CIBC First Caribbean Advances Sale of Assets in 2 OECS Countries

FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited (“FirstCaribbean”) announced today that the sale of its business to two indigenous banks in the eastern Caribbean has received approval from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.

The bank further announced that it will now begin the process of transferring its clients to the Bank of St. Vincent & Grenadines Limited in St. Vincent and the St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla National Bank in St. Kitts.  This process is expected to take several months.

The sale of the Caribbean bank’s business in five countries – Aruba, St. Vincent, Grenada and St. Kitts & Nevis & Dominica – was announced in October of 2021. The Aruba sale was completed earlier this year.

The parties continue to discuss and negotiate key aspects of the transaction in the proposed sale of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s assets to Grenada Co-operative Bank Limited.

The bank further announced that the sale of its assets in Dominica to the National Bank of Dominica will not proceed, as NBD has announced a change in its strategic direction, which does not include an acquisition at this time.

Colette Delaney, Chief Executive Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean, noted: “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.”