Republic Bank
Republic Bank is a leading bank and financial service provider in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest in the Eastern Caribbean. It has branches in Grenada, Guyana, Barbados, and offshore banking operations incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Formerly a division of Barclays Bank in Trinidad and Tobago,
History
As a subsidiary of UK banks
The forerunner of Republic Bank, Colonial Bank was established on May 15, 1837 by Royal Charter.[1] John Irving MP was the first chairman.[2] Colonial Bank was reported to have a "virtual monopoly" on banking in nineteenth century Trinidad.[3]
In 1909 The Colonial Bank established a branch on High Street, San Fernando.[3]
- 1925 The Colonial Bank merged with the Anglo-Egyptian Bank (est. 1864) and the National Bank of South Africa (est. 1891) to form Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas). Barclays had inherited the ownership of The Colonial Bank when it acquired the London Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918. On May 6, 1926, The Colonial Bank changed its name to Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas).[3]
- 1939 As a result of the labor disturbances and the announcement that Britain was at war with Germany, the bank experienced a run.
- 1963 Barclays Bank acquired Bank of Trinidad, established in 1959.
On April 1, 1972, Barclays DCO became Barclays Bank International Limited.[1] The local operation changed its name to Barclays Bank Trinidad and Tobago.
After Barclays
In the 1970s, with pressure for local control of the banking industry, Barclays Bank began a process of divestment of shares.[4] In 1977 Barclays Bank Trinidad and Tobago sold the majority of its shares locally.[4] This prompted another name change, to Republic Bank Limited, on April 1, 1981.[1]
- 1989 Barclays sold its 41% holding to Colonial Life Insurance Co. (Trinidad). Colonial Life built up its holding to 46.7% and later reduced it to 34%.
- 1992 RB and Grupo Acedo-Mendoza established Acedo-Mendoza Fincor C.A., a confirming house with offices in Venezuela and Colombia as well as Trinidad.
- RB established Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago (Cayman) Limited, a wholly owned offshore bank.
- RB purchased 51% of the National Commercial Bank of Grenada Limited, a commercial banking operation with eight branches on the islands of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The government had founded the bank in 1979. In 1980, the bank acquired the shares of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (Grenada) and also purchased the assets of Royal Bank of Canada (Grenville).
- 1994 RB purchased 23% of Bank of Commerce Trinidad and Tobago Limited.
- RB purchased 20% of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (West Indies) Holdings Limited. This gave RB linkages with the holding company's branches in the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Vincent, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia and Jamaica. The shareholding is currently 14%.
- 1996 RB bought another 31.14% of Bank of Commerce, taking its ownership up to 51.14%, making Bank of Commerce a subsidiary of Republic Bank.
- 1997 The purchase of approximately 10.9 million shares gave RB a total of 95.3% of Bank of Commerce.
- RB acquired 47.5% of shares of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC) from the government of Guyana. National Bank of Industry and Commerce took over the operations of Royal Bank of Canada, which left Guyana in 1984 when the government acquired 51% of the capital. In 1914 Royal Bank of Canada had acquired the activities of the British Guiana Bank, which had been incorporated in 1836 and had begun operations in 1837.
- A truce ended an eight-year battle for control of RB with Colonial Life. (RB is an Indian-managed bank and so the conflict has had ethnic aspects.)
- 1999 RB established Republic Bank (Barbados) as an offshore bank to complement the operations of its Cayman Islands subsidiary.
- 2003 RB acquired a 57% interest in the Barbados National Bank in Barbados.
- RB acquired 93% of the failed Banco Mercantil (est. 1984), the sixth largest bank in the Dominican Republic. It has since rebranded Banco Mercantil as Republic Bank (D.R.) S.A. This was the first of Republic Bank’s overseas subsidiaries to fully adopt the Republic Bank corporate identity.
- 2006 RB rebranded NBIC as Republic Bank (Guyana).
- In 2009, CL Financial (the parent of CLICO) had financial problems, and its shares came under the control of the Trinidad government.
Subsidiaries
In addition to its main banking operations in Trinidad and Tobago, Republic Bank has the following subsidiaries[5]
- Republic Finance and Merchant Bank Limited (FINCOR)
- Republic Bank (Grenada) Limited
- Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited
- Republic Bank Trinidad & Tobago (Cayman) Limited
- Republic Bank Trinidad & Tobago (Barbados) Limited
- London Street Project Company Limited
- Barbados National Bank Inc.
- Republic Bank (DR) S.A.
- Infolink Services Limited
- Securicor Trinidad Limited (now Group 4 Securicor Trinidad Limited after the worldwide merger of the operations of Securicor and Group 4 Falck in July 2004)
- The Home Mortgage Bank
- Republic Securities Limited
Largest competitors
References
- ^ a b c Republic Bank Limited financial statement to the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, December, 2003
- ^ Colonel J.B.Irving, The Book of the Irvings, 1908
- ^ a b c Anthony, Michael (2001). Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago. Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Md., and London. ISBN 0-8108-3173-2.
- ^ a b History of Republic Bank, Republic Bank website.
- ^ Subsidiaries, Republic Bank website.
External links
|
|
|
Agostini's · Alstons · Angostura Holdings · Ansa McAL · Ansa Merchant Bank · Barbados Shipping & Trading Company · BCB Holdings · Berger Paints Trinidad · Capital & Credit Financial Group · Capital & Credit Merchant Bank · FirstCaribbean International Bank · Flavorite Food · GraceKennedy · Guardian Holdings · Jamaica Money Market Brokers · L.J. Williams · National Commercial Bank Jamaica · National Enterprises · National Flour Mills · Neal & Massy Holdings · One Caribbean Media · PLIPDECO · Prestige Holdings · Readymix (West Indies) · Republic Bank · Sagicor Financial · Scotia DBG Investments · Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago · Supreme Ventures · West Indian Tobacco · Trinidad Cement · Trinidad Publishing Company · Unilever Caribbean
|
|