Oct 2009 Financial News

State of CMMB to be revealed today

Oct 08, 2009

BARBADIAN investors should get an update as to the current state of operations at Caribbean Money Market Brokers (CMMB) and any future plans for the brokerage firm.

This is because Sharon Christopher, Deputy CEO of First Citizens Bank, the Trinidadian institution that took control of CMMB, will be speaking to the media in Barbados today.

Back in June, First Citizens Bank, an indigenous Trinidadian company, officially took control of Caribbean Money Market Brokers (CMMB) following the signing of a Share Purchasing agreement between the relevant authorities.

This followed an announcement in February of this year indicating that the ownership of CMMB, the largest brokerage firm in Barbados, was about to change hands following concerns about how CMMB would be affected by the issues surrounding the CL Financial Group at that time.
It was noted in a statement then that First Citizens was in the process of acquiring CMMB, as part of the restructu-ring of the CL Financial Group.

This was undertaken so that customers of CMMB in Trinidad, Barbados, St. Lucia and the wider Caribbean would be assured that their investments with the company were secure and that all commitments would be met.

The decision came after Trinidadian Government authorities intervened to rescue CL Financial from its financial troubles.

The news of the latter rocked the Caribbean financial scene, as CL Financial was well-known to have a number of
investments across the region. As a result, Barbadian investors in CMMB became very wary of the state of their investments, with a number of them seriously considering removing their money from the institution.

Speaking to the Business Monday in June, Sekou Mark, First Citizen’s General Manager of Corporate Banking, stated that the move
by the Trinidadian Government to come in and provide a guarantee on these investments put to rest a lot of the rumours that people would not get back their money, and has restored confidence in the market and the firm.

With this confidence revived, it is therefore left to be seen how the market has reacted; if the brokerage firm has been negatively affected by this year’s developments; and if they have been able to maintain past levels of investment; all of which should be revealed today.
(RH)


Source:
Barbados Advocate
Thursday October 8, 2009

http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=business&NewsID=6604