Union to seek answers from CIBC “top brass” over nixed GNB deal

Union to seek answers from CIBC “top brass” over nixed GNB deal

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Financial Services Union (BFSU) President Theresa Mortimer said yesterday that the union has asked to meet with CIBC “top brass” for answers on the future of the bank’s Caribbean arm and why the deal to sell a majority stake in its regional operations ultimately fell through.

Mortimer told Eyewitness News that a meeting yesterday with a CIBC FirstCaribbean executive left the union with more questions than answers.

President of the Bahamas Financial Services Union Theresa Mortimer. (FILE PHOTO)

“We didn’t get the answers we were looking for because FirstCaribbean is saying they didn’t put the bank on the market for sale, CIBC did,” she said.

“The questions, we need to be answered by CIBC. What we have asked for is a meeting with top brass in Canada because we want to know why the deal really fell through. We want to know what’s really going on.

“We feel CIBC didn’t do their homework [on] a buyer and that’s why we are where we are now. There are still more questions than answers.”

CIBC on Wednesday announced that the transaction that would have seen Colombia’s GNB Financial Group Limited acquire a majority stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited will not proceed as it did not receive approval from FirstCaribbean’s regulators.

Had the deal been approved, GNB would have acquired 66.73 percent of the shares of FirstCaribbean. CIBC would have retained 24.9 percent interest in the Caribbean bank.

GNB is wholly owned by Starmites Corporation S.ar.L, the financial holding company of the Gilinski Group. The Gilinski Group, headed by Jamie Gilinski, has banking operations in Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Panama and the Cayman Islands, with approximately US$15 billion in combined assets.

FirstCaribbean is located in 16 countries around the Caribbean, providing banking services through approximately 2,900 employees in 64 branches and offices.