Guardian ( Trinidad and Tobago )
29 September 2023 ( Page 15 )
Two more executives leave NCBFG
Two CEOs of subsidiaries of NCB Financial Group
(NCBFG), are leaving the Kingston, Jamaicabased company, less than three months after the
two most senior executives of the group were
asked to proceed on leave, by mutual agreement.
Departing the group is Septimus Blake, whose
term as the CEO of National Commercial Bank
Jamaica (NCBJ) comes to an end tomorrow.
The other executive to depart is Steven Gooden,
CEO of NCB Capital Markets Ltd, which is the
immediate parent of the NCB Merchant Bank
(Trinidad and Tobago), the T&T non-bank
financial institution and broker-dealer.
In notices published on the T&T and Jamaica
stock exchanges, where the company is listed,
NCBFG advised that Bruce Bowen would become
the CEO of NCBJ effective October 1, 2023. Bowen
is a former senior vice president of Scotiabank’s
operations in the Caribbean and he also served as
the CEO of Scotia Group Jamaica.
He was appointed as a director of NCBJ effective
September 26, 2023, and will continue in his
capacity as a special advisor to the interim group
CEO of NCBFG, Robert Almeida.
Almeida was appointed to the position shortly
after the announcement on July 18 that the group
CEO of NCBFG, Patrick Hylton, and his deputy
Dennis Cohen, were proceeding on vacation leave
for three weeks, by agreement.
The group’s decision to send its two most senior
executives on leave came the day after NCBFG
chairman, Michael Lee-Chin, prematurely
returned from a leave of absence of
approximately three months, that was
announced on May 24.
In June, during his leave of absence, Lee-Chin
sold 38,708,700 shares in NCBFG across the floor
of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.
The share sale, which accounted for about 2.5 per
cent of the 1.5 billion shares of the group he
owned, raised about US$17 million.
On August 10, NCBFG reported that its unaudited
net profit for the nine months ended June 30,
2023, amounted to J$13.7 billion (about US$88
million), which was a 47 per cent or J$12.2 billion
reduction from the prior year.
On September 11, the group disclosed that it was
considering an Additional Public Offering (APO)
of up to 300 million new shares in NCBFG, aimed
at raising capital for the financial services group.
In an interview with the Guardian yesterday, LeeChin explained that the departure of Blake and
Gooden was as a result of NCBFG deciding to
“delayer” the group, which he described as a
transformational initiative designed to bring the
company and its subsidiaries closer to its
customers.
“Sometimes stars align as companies periodically
change their bearings and people may want to go
on to do other things... We did not push out
anyone,” said Lee- Chin.
He said that simultaneous with the delayering of
the group, a decision had been taken to hive off
the wealth management business from NCB
Capital Markets.
“We are putting wealth management on its own
with an independent focus and its own growth
trajectory.”
Asked whether NCBFG had come to a settlement
with Hylton and Cohen, Lee-Chin said that that
was “a work in progress”.
In its notices, NCBFG said it appreciated the
contributions of Blake and Gooden.
Photo - NCBFG chairman Michael Lee-Chin