Scotia employees to join Republic Bank after sale | THE DAILY HERALD

~ Govt., workers informed of pending sale ~

 

PHILIPSBURG–Employees of the two Scotiabank locations in St. Maarten will go over to Trinidad and Tobago-based Republic Financial Holdings, which is slated to buy the Scotiabank operations in St. Maarten and in eight other Caribbean countries.

  “All employees will be joining Republic Bank subject to regulatory approvals,” Scotiabank Managing Director for Caribbean East David Parks told The Daily Herald in a phone interview from Barbados, where he is based, on Wednesday. He said both Scotiabank branches in St. Maarten will be sold. The purchase price of the St. Maarten operations could not be ascertained. He made clear that all of Scotiabank’s operations will continue normally in the various jurisdictions, including in St. Maarten.

  The Government of St. Maarten was informed on Monday of the pending sale of the Scotiabank operations in St. Maarten. The “regulator who oversees the financial sector in St. Maarten” was also informed.

  Meetings were held with the staffers of all impacted jurisdictions around 7:45am Tuesday where they were informed of the developments. The sessions began with a webcast with a senior Scotiabank representative in Canada and workers were given a chance to express their concerns and ask questions to their respective local Country Managers. Parks declined to give an indication as to what some of the concerns of the St. Maarten Scotiabank workers were.

  Senior Scotia officials will follow up with a series of meetings from next Monday where they will answer questions of workers in the various jurisdictions.

  Parks said a specific date or timeline for when the sale is expected to be closed is not available at this stage, as this depends on the necessary approvals being given.

  “We don’t have a specific date at this time for the closing,” he said adding that parties are working with Republic Bank, regulators in the local jurisdictions and others to obtain the necessary approvals to close the transaction. The regulator for St. Maarten is the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS).

  Asked what guarantees Scotiabank St. Maarten account holders have that their savings will be protected following the sale, Parks said Scotiabank has partnered with a leading financial services provider that is an expert in its field and is committed to delivering enhanced financial services which will serve local customers’ needs going forward.

  Scotiabank has two branches in St. Maarten: one in Philipsburg and one in Simpson Bay.

  Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin has not yet responded to queries from this newspaper on the matter sent to her on Tuesday evening.

  In addition to St. Maarten, the bank’s operations in Dominica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana are said to be earmarked for sale. The move is part of the bank’s strategy to narrow the number of international markets in which it does business.

  According to a Reuters news report, the bank announced on Tuesday its plans to exit nine countries in the Caribbean by selling its operations to Republic Financial Holdings. It also plans to sell its insurance operations in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to Sagicor Financial.

  The bank has been selling non-core businesses and focusing its international operations on the Pacific Alliance trading bloc of Peru, Mexico, Chile and Columbia, which now accounts for around a quarter of its revenue. The transactions are not material to Scotiabank, it said, but will result in its core tier 1 capital ratio, a key measure of its financial strength, increasing by 10 basis points.

  At least one Caribbean territory has reacted strongly to the Scotiabank exit plans. A media release from Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minster Gaston Browne on Tuesday, said the Bank of Nova Scotia was stopped from proceeding with any sale of its operations in that country until application is made to its Government and approval given. Browne also wants assurances that local banks will be given priority to purchase Scotiabank’s operations in Antigua, and that local persons’ investments and savings will be protected.

  In a letter to Scotiabank in Antigua General Manager Suzan Snaggs-Wilson, Browne said, “I hereby inform the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia that their decision to sell the operations in Antigua and Barbuda, without the requisite consultation and agreement of the regulators and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, is unacceptable.”

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83101-scotia-employees-to-join-republic-bank-after-sale

LEAVE A REPLY