Transfer finalised
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS is being witnessed in Basseterre, the signages at the Royal Bank of Canada have been removed and replaced with those of the Bank of Nevis, due to the sale of the former financial institution being finalised.
This comes as the Bank of Nevis was part of a consortium of banks that purchased the operations of the Canadian bank, along with the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, in the Eastern Caribbean.
In a statement, RBC announced that as of Thursday (Apr. 1), it has received the required approvals from local governments and from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank for the sale of its Eastern Caribbean banking operations, which meant that the transaction closed on that day.
The sale was done to five banks across the Eastern Caribbean which formed the consortium: 1st National Bank of St. Lucia, Antigua Commercial Bank, Bank of Dominica, Bank of Montserrat and the Bank of Nevis.
Included in the sale were 11 RBC branches in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as two RBTT operations.
“This transaction will allow RBC to align investments and resources into markets where our vision for being the Caribbean’s digitally-enabled relationship bank can be executed most-successfully.
“The sale of our Eastern Caribbean banking operations to indigenous banks is also a critical step forward in strengthening the domestic financial services sectors in each of the countries and territories involved. This will help create a stronger climate for further growth, development, and prosperity,” said Rob Johnston, Head of Caribbean Banking.
The sale of the Eastern Caribbean operations is another move by Canadian banks to exit the region altogether.
A number of financial institutions have begun a mass exit from the region, including Scotia Bank which sold the majority of its operations in the region to Republic Financial Holdings, the parent company of Republic Bank Limited.
