FirstCaribbean Bank drops New York listing

FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL Bank Limited (FCIB) said it has withdrawn its plans to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in view of market conditions.

“FCIB announced the withdrawal of the US registered public offering and listing of its shares on the NYSE in view of market conditions at this juncture,” the bank said in a release on Friday.

FCIB is one of the largest listed financial services institutions in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The bank, which is headquartered in Barbados, pitched Jamaica, Trinidad and Dutch Caribbean as key growth markets in its prospectus to United States investors earlier this month. For instance, its Jamaican loan book grew by double-digit amounts, while most of its regional counterparts grew by single digits during the year ending October 2017.

The growth areas included retail banking and investment banking.

In December, FCIB filed a registration statement disclosing its plans to list on NYSE under the symbol FCI. Overall, FCIB group aimed to sell itself to US investors as a bank on a growth trajectory. Its net income increased from US$113.1 million in 2015 to US$127.6 million in 2017, representing a constant average growth rate of 6.0 per cent. The bank holds over US$12 billion in assets and has market capitalization of US$2 billion.

CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC is a leading Canada-based global financial institution with 11 million personal banking and business clients.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com.