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~ Government, workers informed of the sale pending ~
PHILIPSBURG – Employees at Scotiabank's two locations in St. Maarten will transition to Republic Financial Holdings of Trinidad and Tobago, which will purchase Scotiabank's St. Maarten and eight other Caribbean countries.
"All employees will join Republic Bank subject to regulatory approvals," Scotiabank's director general for Caribbean East, David Parks, told The Daily Herald on Wednesday during a phone interview at The Barber, where he is based. He said the two branches of Scotiabank in St. Martin would be sold. The purchase price of the Saint Martin operations could not be determined. He said all Scotiabank operations would continue in the various jurisdictions, including St. Maarten.
The government of Saint-Martin was informed Monday of the imminent sale of Scotiabank's activities in St. Martin. The "regulator overseeing the financial sector in St. Maarten" has also been informed.
Meetings were held with staff members from all affected jurisdictions around 7:45 am on Tuesday, where they were briefed on developments. The sessions began with a webcast with a Scotiabank High Representative in Canada, and workers were given the opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions of their respective country managers. Parks declined to indicate what were some of the concerns of Scotiabank workers in St. Maarten.
Officials from Nova Scotia will be following a series of meetings starting next Monday, during which they will be answering questions from workers in different jurisdictions.
Parks clarified that a specific date or schedule for the closing of the sale was not available at this stage because it depends on the approvals required.
"We do not yet have a specific date for the closure," he added, adding that the parties were working with the Republic Bank, local court regulators and other entities to obtain the necessary authorizations. necessary to close the transaction. The regulator for St. Maarten is the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS).
Asked about the guarantees available to Scotiabank account holders in St. Maarten that their savings will be protected after the sale, Parks said Scotiabank has partnered with a leading financial services provider, expert in its field and committed to providing enhanced financial services that will serve local customers. customer needs in the future.
Scotiabank has two branches in St. Maarten: one in Philipsburg and one in Simpson Bay.
Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin has not yet responded to questions from this newspaper about it, which were sent to him Tuesday night.
In addition to St. Martin, the Bank's operations in Dominica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and New Grenadines and Guyana should be sold. This decision is part of the bank's strategy to reduce the number of international markets in which it operates.
According to information from Reuters, the bank announced Tuesday its intention to leave nine Caribbean countries by selling its business to Republic Financial Holdings. It also plans to sell its insurance business in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to Sagicor Financial.
The bank sells non-core businesses and focuses its international operations on the Pacific Alliance trading bloc of Peru, Mexico, Chile and Colombia, which now accounts for about one-quarter of its total revenue. ;business. The transactions are not important for Scotiabank, he added, but will result in a Tier 1 capital ratio, a key measure of its financial strength, which will increase by 10 basis points.
At least one Caribbean territory has reacted strongly to Scotiabank exit plans. In a press release issued Tuesday by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, the Bank of Nova Scotia was banned from making any sale of its operations in that country until the end of the year. that a request be sent to his government and that it be approved. Browne also wants assurances that priority will be given to local banks to acquire Scotiabank's operations in Antigua and that local residents' investments and savings will be protected.
In a letter to Scotiabank from Antigua, Suzan Snaggs-Wilson, General Manager, Browne said: "I hereby notify the authorities of the Bank of Nova Scotia that their decision to sell the business in Antigua and Barbuda, without the required consultation and the agreement of the regulatory authorities and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, is unacceptable. "
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