CEO Andre Iton: ‘Nothing is going to change…’

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Andre Iton says that there may be much ado about nothing in the divestment of shares in the Bank to the East Caribbean Financial Holdings (ECFH).{{more}}

Iton, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, October 12, at the Bank’s main branch at Bedford Street, said that there will be little or no significant changes in the way the Bank will do business, and stated that divestment and sale of banks is not an uncommon occurrence in the region or world.

“Nothing is going to change in terms of how your account is conducted, (or) the people you are going to interact with.”

“All that changes is that a portion of the shareholding previously in the hands of the government goes into the hands of a private entity that is committed to making the operation far more effective.”

“It would be a crazy institution that upsets the modus operandi if they want to effect the kind of operation that you get from making the investment.”

“What they are going to do is add value by incrementing and improving things.”

Iton noted that any forthcoming changes made by the new majority shareholders could be only for the better and for the expansion and efficiency of the institution.

He said that the fact that the ownership changes from the majority government to the private sector brings the bank in line with what is best banking practice around the world.

“It is only in countries like North Korea where we see government controls everything and we see the levels of development in countries of that nature…. We are moving into the environment where you have the private sector and government sector basing consideration which is best for the customers, the shareholders and the institution.”

According to Iton, banks have been changing ownership and names over the years, and he is at a loss as to why objection is being voiced about the divestment of the bank’s shares.

“Let’s get real. In the last five years, two of the four players in this market have done what we are doing.”

“FCIB (First Caribbean International Bank) is an outgrowth of Barclays and CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), because they have found that by pooling their capital they can do better in the Caribbean region.”

“Within the last three years, Royal Bank, which was the previous owners of RBTT, recognized that to operate within the region strategically, it was in the best interest to buy back RBTT – nobody made any noise.”

“Royal Bank buys back RBTT; nothing changes, nobody moves their account, there is no alarm. Why is it there is all this alarm when at the local level we’re trying to do the same thing to enhance the operation of this thing?”

“I’d venture to say that a number of people who are making all the noise in this involvement and are talking about the profit going to St. Lucia, they’re sending profits to Canada with those banks because that’s where the profits go,” Iton added.

The CEO lamented that it was disheartening that the divestment process should be subjected to the level of public scrutiny that it is receiving, saying that this was not done when the other financial institutions were going through the same process.

“Banking by nature is very confidential and private by nature, which is exactly how it should be.”