FirstCaribbean Bank adopts parent's name
Published:Wednesday | June 22, 2011 | 12:00 AM
FirstCaribbean International Bank, the largest regionally listed bank is to be rebranded to reflect the name of its parent company, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
FirstCaribbean, which was formed in 2002 out of a merger between the Caribbean businesses of CIBC and Barclays, made the announcement on Monday saying that the bank and all its subsidiaries will be adopting the co-branded name of 'CIBC FirstCaribbean'.
CIBC became majority owner of FCIB in 2006 when it acquired an additional 43.7 per cent stake in the bank from Britain's Barclays Plc for US$1.08 billion.
The purchase then gave the Canadian bank an 87.4 per cent stake in FCIB.
FirstCaribbean says the transition to the new CIBC FirstCaribbean identity will be gradual over the coming months as the CIBC FirstCaribbean brand is introduced to operations across the Caribbean region.
"Over this time the claret or red and gold of the CIBC brand will be phased-in as branch signage, employee uniforms, and marketing materials are updated," said the bank.
CIBC FirstCaribbean will continue to operate as a Caribbean-managed business within the CIBC group of companies, it said, and will continue to be traded on the stock exchanges of Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean.
Nigel Holness, managing director of the Jamaican country operations, says closer identity with the banking group's parent should be a plus for business.
"FirstCaribbean is majority owned by CIBC and we want to take every opportunity to leverage our parent. Considering the history of Canadian banks in the Caribbean and the strength of CIBC as indicated in the news release, we believe that it is time to bring the two strong brands together to take advantage of our Caribbean heritage and the strength of CIBC," said Holness.
FirstCaribbean's regional operations - valued at about US$10 billion, comprise more than 500,000 accounts in 17 markets. It employs 3,400 staff across 100 branches and offices in the region.