Aug 2006 Financial News

First Caribbean Collects Euromoney Magazine Award

Aug 30, 2006

Euromoney Magazine, one of the most highly regarded publications in the financial industry has conferred its Best Bank Award of Excellence on FirstCaribbean International Bank.

This is the first time in the magazine's 37-year history, that it was conferring this award on a Pan-Caribbean bank, FirstCaribbean said in a news release yesterday.

According to Soledad Contreras, senior manager Euromoney Magazine - UK, FirstCaribbean's recent asset growth, coupled with its successes in the international business and capital markets segments, put it ahead of the competition.

Contreras said that despite the aggressive competition in the regional financial sector, the magazine's analysts were impressed that FirstCaribbean had still recorded strong first quarter results, with an increase in earnings of 35 per cent.
She added that with an asset base of $9.6 billion and a growth rate of almost 300 per cent year on year, the bank was "clearly working hard to make its presence felt, despite it being a relatively young player in the industry".

"These benchmark awards highlight high-quality products and services across all areas of commercial and investment banking, regionally and globally," Contreras said. "At Euromoney, we believe that finance is the world's most competitive business, so it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. The award was very well deserved. and we hope that it encourages all FirstCaribbean staff to continue on the path of excellence."

Alluding to the recent acquisition of ABN Amro's offshore and wealth management business in Curacao, Contreras explained that this would further bolster Barbados-based FirstCaribbean's ability to offer a comprehensive range of services that would continue to rival the leading financial institutions across the region.

After accepting the award, FirstCaribbean's international banking director for Barbados, Mark St Hill, said the bank was honoured to have received the commendation because it represented international recognition of the incredible work being done by the teams in the various segments of the bank's operations.


Source:
The Jamaica Observer
Wednesday 30, 2006

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20060829T230000-0500_112266_OBS_FIRSTCARIBBEAN_COLLECTS_EUROMONEY_MAGAZINE_AWARD.asp