The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) said the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (BOSVG) has taken over the operations of the FirstCaribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited (FCIB) in Kingstown.
In a statement, the ECCB, which serves as a central bank for the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts-Nevis, said the takeover goes into effect on Friday.
“The ECCB, in consultation with the ECCB Monetary Council, approved the application for the transfer of the assets and liabilities of FCIB, St. Vincent and the Grenadines branch to BOSVG on 15 July 2022, pursuant to Section 43 of the Banking Act, 2015 of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (No 4 of 2015), as amended,” the ECCB said.
It said in accordance with these approvals, the ECCB issued an updated banking license to BOSVG and that the Banking Business Vesting Orders have been signed and gazetted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The ECCB remains resolute in its mandate to supervise all licensed financial institutions under the Banking Act, 2015. The financial sector in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union is evolving. Citizens and residents in our Currency Union are encouraged to stay abreast of developments,” it said without elaborating on the amount paid for the acquisition.
In 2021, a consortium of banks n the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the branches and banking operations of CIBC FirstCaribbean in Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“This acquisition by the Consortium represents a significant development in the evolution of the banking system of the ECCU. Once approved by the regulators, we are very confident that it will lay the basis for further enhanced value creation in these economies and greater prosperity for our society,” the Consortium lead, and BOSVG managing director, Derry Williams, had said then.
The four members of the Consortium are the National Bank of Dominica Limited; Grenada Co-operative Bank Limited; Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Limited; and the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Limited.
“The four indigenous banks are an excellent fit for the bank’s St. Vincent, Grenada, Dominica, and St. Kitts business, given their knowledge of the local markets match with our product offerings and client base and a strong market positioning. They bring a depth of local knowledge to the market and the needs of our clients there,” said CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Chief Executive Officer, Colette Delaney
The acquisition expands the Consortium’s loan base by more than EC$600 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) net, the deposit portfolio by EC$1.5 billion, and provides the additional scale to better service the Consortium’s respective communities and contribute to the region’s economic and social advancement.
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