FirstCaribbean International Bank to sell assets in St Maarten

The FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB Cayman), a subsidiary of the FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited, has confirmed that it will be selling its banking assets in Curacao and St Maarten.

The sale will be made to the Curacao based Orco Bank which was established in Curacao in 1986. The Orco bank has been providing its services to the regions of St Maarten, Bonaire and Curacao, in both personal banking and business solutions.

Initially, the Orco Bank focused solely on investment banking, offshore trading and bond trading. Having said that, now the financial institution is looking to provide banking services and products to businesses and individuals as well, expanding their portfolio in the process.

The Cayman Islands Monetary Agency, the Central Bank of Barbados, and the Central Bank of Curaçao and St Maarten will have to approve the transactions related to this change and the required approvals are likely to be issued in the next couple of months.

Chief Executive Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean, Mark St Hill stated the following, “these transactions are the final ones in our programme of country divestitures that began in 2021 with the sale of our assets in Aruba and some of our OECS territories. This programme began as part of our strategy to enable CIBC FirstCaribbean to optimise and simplify its business, further enhance efficiency and focus on core markets to accelerate growth. When these divestitures are completed, it will allow our bank to turn its full attention to growing our business, consolidating our position in our core markets and optimising our strategy of providing a second-to-none omni-channel banking service to our clients.”

He went further to say, “A decision to leave a market is never an easy one but we are certain that we are leaving our clients with a competent team, led by Edward Pietersz and Desiree Alberto-Martina of Orco Bank, who will focus on delivering a personalised service and an enhanced customer experience to its customers, to ensure high compliance standards, and portfolio management, to conform with guidelines and regulations of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St Maarten (CBCS).”

The Managing Director and CEO of Orco Bank had this to say, “We are thrilled to welcome new customers and remain dedicated to delivering superior service to both our existing and new clientele. With an expanded reach, we are well-positioned to fulfil our mission of being the preferred partner, offering innovative, customer-driven solutions that enable financial freedom in a responsible and sustainable manner while creating shared value for our communities. Both banks are working diligently to ensure a seamless transition for CIBC FirstCaribbean’s customers.”

For the sake of clarification, the transactions being pursued in this deal will not have an effect on CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Tier 1 and Total Capital ratios.