CIBC FirstCaribbean names new chairman

The Board of Directors of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank has announced the appointment of David Ritch as its new non-executive Chairman. The appointment took effect from December 13, 2013. An attorney-at-law,{{more}} Ritch obtained an honours law degree from the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados, and went on to qualify as an English Barrister-at-Law in London, England. He was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 1976.

His career began in the Cayman Islands Courts as the Clerk of Courts, but he rose rapidly from that position to Crown Counsel and Senior Crown Counsel in the Chambers of the Attorney General. Ritch is currently Senior Partner with the law firm Ritch & Conolly, where he has practised law continuously for the past 30 years.

Ritch is a past president of the Cayman Islands Law Society and has served on numerous Government Statutory Boards. These include being a member of the Cayman Islands Currency Board for almost 10 years, Chairman of the Port Authority, the Labour Board and Planning Appeals Tribunals, the Trade & Business Licensing Board, the Caymanian Protection Board, the Immigration Board and the Work Permit Board. He also chaired the Immigration Review Team appointed by the Cabinet in 2005 to conduct an in depth review of Cayman Islands immigration law and regulations.

Ritch is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caribbean Utilities Company, Ltd., a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the sole provider of electricity on the Island of Grand Cayman. He joined the Boards of FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited and its subsidiary FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Limited in 2002 and sits on several of the Bank’s committees including the Audit and Governance Committee.

Ritch’s appointment as Chairman follows the retirement of Michael Mansoor as Executive Chairman on October 31, 2013. Mansoor has been re-appointed to the Board effective December 12, 2013.

The Board has also announced the appointment of Brian McDonough as its newest director, to replace resigning director Brian O’Donnell. McDonough is currently Executive Vice-President, Wholesale Credit and Investment Risk Management, at the bank’s parent company, CIBC. He leads CIBC’s Corporate and Commercial Adjudication globally and is responsible for assessment, adjudication and monitoring of credit risk in Wholesale Banking and Commercial Banking for CIBC. McDonough joined CIBC in 1983, has held various senior positions in Risk Management, and was appointed to his current position in July 2008. CIBC FirstCaribbean was formed in 2002 as a merger of the Caribbean operations of CIBC and Barclays Bank.