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Financial News

Jun 2014 Financial News

Perkins to head Sagicor Bank (Jamaica)

Jun 18, 2014

SAGICOR Investments executive Donovan Perkins will now head the newly enlarged banking arm within the Sagicor Group with Philip Armstrong as his deputy.

The move follows the recent announcement that the Sagicor Group received regulatory approval for the acquisition of RBC Jamaica which increased its banking arm customer base nearly tenfold.

It also represents the clear separation of the banking and investments divisions under the Sagicor Group Jamaica.

Perkins, formerly the head of Sagicor Investments, will now head the banking division as president and CEO of Sagicor Bank Jamaica supported by Philip Armstrong as deputy CEO.

Sagicor Investments will now be headed by Rohan Miller, executive vice-president, at Sagicor Group Jamaica. Miller was previously responsible for the investment arm of Sagicor Life Jamaica.

"As the bank will undergo the most significant change, we believe the focused attention of both Donovan and Philip will be necessary to ensure the seamless integration of the new and much larger Sagicor Bank," said Richard Byles, president and CEO, Sagicor Group Jamaica, in a release.

Sagicor Group Jamaica last Friday announced that its acquisition of RBC Royal Bank (Jamaica) Limited and RBTT Securities Jamaica Limited (collectively RBC Jamaica) have been approved by the regulators.

Sagicor also indicated that it expects to complete the process of acquisition and transfer of business by the end of June. It will combine the operations of both banks to operate under the Sagicor Bank brand.

"All RBC Jamaica branches will be rebranded to Sagicor Bank Jamaica and our teams at Sagicor Bank and RBC Jamaica will be working closely together to ensure a smooth transition for all our new and existing customers," said Byles in a release. "Over the next 12 months, we will be working to integrate our technology platforms so that customers will be able to bank at any of our branch locations. In the interim, we encourage you to continue to bank at your current branch, as there is no change to your banking arrangements."

In January, Sagicor announced that it would acquire RBC for $9 billion which closely reflects the book value of the Jamaica operations.

Royal Bank of Canada shortly thereafter stated that it would take a CAD$60-million ($5.9-billion) loss on the sale of its Jamaican operations to SGJ.

The local RBC operations recorded over $9 billion in losses over the past four-and-a-half years mainly due to bad debts.

The lack of profitability prompted RBC Jamaica's parent to inject close to $5 billion into it in exchange for new ordinary and preference shares since December 2011.

The bank since last May closed four of its branches, leaving 13 open, and cut its workforce by 10 per cent.

Sagicor Group Jamaica operates financial services in Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Costa Rica.


Source:
Jamaica Observer
Wednesday June 18, 2014

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Perkins-to-head-Sagicor-Bank_16928352