FirstCaribbean wins deal of the year 2007 award

FirstCaribbean International Bank has been awarded the “Deal of the Year Trinidad & Tobago” title for 2007. The prestigious accolade, issued by The Banker magazine and the Financial Times Group, is the latest international recognition to be given to FirstCaribbean. This year, though, marks the first time the honour has been presented by The Banker magazine for a transaction completed in the Caribbean region.{{more}}

The Bank’s Capital Markets unit received the award for the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad & Tobago (UDeCOTT) short-term US$176 million financing facility completed in 2006 for the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre.

Ian Chinapoo, Managing Director, Capital Markets, congratulated the transaction team who contributed to the successful completion of the deal.

“The “Deal of the Year” award is a noteworthy achievement for FirstCaribbean and our Trinidad and Capital Markets businesses,” he said. “We are pleased to have won the globally recognized title, having only launched both operations within the past three years.”

The official award ceremony took place May 2, 2007 in Manama, Bahrain. The award package includes a commemorative crystal tombstone and a feature in the May 2007 issue of The Banker magazine.

“Deal of the Year” titles for 2007 were awarded to financial institutions in 60 countries across the globe from a pool of 650 applicants. Judging criteria for the honour range from speed of deal execution to customer service quality.

FirstCaribbean Capital Markets continues to raise US$ hundreds of millions in debt capital for governments, state-owned enterprises and private and public companies. In addition to debt underwriting and structured project finance, the unit’s product and service suite includes Equity Underwriting, Syndicated Loans and Structured Finance offerings.