NCB Capital Markets to Establish Investment Banking Hub in Barbados

National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) has announced that on September 22, 2015 NCB Capital Markets (Barbados) Limited was registered by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Barbados to conduct business in Securities Company, Dealer, Underwriter and Investment Advisor.

As part of the NCB Group’s strategy to diversify and grow revenues through regional expansion, NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM) is to establish an office in the eastern Caribbean island of Barbados and is awaiting a securities dealer license by the Barbados Financial Services Commission.

The Company will trade as NCB Capital Markets (Barbados) Limited and its establishment follows on the heels of NCBCM’s acquisition of AIC Finance Limited, now NCB Global Finance Limited in Trinidad and Tobago and the refocusing of its Cayman subsidiary, NCB Capital Markets (Cayman) Limited as a regional offshore wealth management hub.

Steven Gooden, Chief Executive Officer at NCBCM noted that the Barbados operation will serve as an investment banking hub for the eastern Caribbean.  Mr. Gooden also pointed out that “it was an opportune time to invest in Barbados as the country is currently going through a period of economic recovery and the government has been seeking public-private sector partnerships to help drive economic activity.”

“A number of regulatory changes are taking place, which collectively augurs well for us having an operation there at this time. NCBCM is already pursuing several opportunities in Barbados. We have recently won a mandate, through our Cayman office, to finance an important 153-bedroom beachfront condominium/hotel project in Barbados, and we are in active discussions on a number of other potential deals,” Mr. Gooden indicated.

NCBCM is now entering phase two of its regional expansion initiative, which will involve enhanced integration of the company’s operations in current markets and the expansion into new ones. This, Mr. Gooden said, will see the positioning of the Trinidad and Tobago operation as an investment banking hub for the southern Caribbean  including Guyana, Suriname and the ABC Islands - Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao.

He also mentioned that NCB Global Finance is in the process of applying for a securities dealer license to complement its current merchant bank operations. The integration and expansion will also benefit existing Jamaican clients seeking to conduct fundraising across the region or simply expand their own operations.

Stating that NCBCM is still exploring other markets, Mr. Gooden said that there is interest in Spanish-speaking countries in the region. “Collectively, they have a population exceeding 80 million people and we are seeking to invest in economies that are growing and have capital markets with relatively low product penetration,” he added.

NCBCM (Barbados) was incorporated on May 27, 2015 and will be located along one of Barbados’s major thoroughfare in Worthing, Christ Church.