Republic Bank to acquire shareholding in the bank of St Lucia

Republic Bank Limi-ted’s Chairman and Managing Director, Ronald Harford confirmed on December 22, 2003 that Republic Bank Limited is in the process of completing the purchase of a 20 percent shareholding stake in the East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (ECFH), the parent company of the Bank of Saint Lucia Limited. Republic Bank has purchased 8.7 percent from the Government of St Lucia, and will be acquiring the remaining 11.3 percent shareholding of ECFH from its subsidiary, the Barbados National Bank (BNB) Inc. Mr Harford further stated that Republic Bank will have two representatives on the board of ECFH and should shortly be signing a management services agreement with their company. This investment will be accretive to Republic Bank’s shareholders. 

With an asset base of EC$884 million dollars (TT$1.87 billion), ECFH is the parent company of the Bank of St Lucia, the largest bank in St Lucia.   The bank provides a complete range of traditional banking and financial services, including deposits, lendings, foreign business, investments and corporate banking. It is also one of the few regional banks providing development banking services, attracting funding from institutional sources, both regionally and internationally to assist in the development of the productive and social sectors of St Lucia. The bank operates four full service branches, one agency, one Bureau de Change and nine automated teller machines on the island of St Lucia.

In 2001, the National Commercial Bank of St Lucia Ltd and the St Lucia Development Bank merged to form the East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (ECFH). All the respective assets and liabilities were transferred to the new company, which is the parent company for the Bank of St Lucia Limited, the Mortgage Finance Company of St Lucia Ltd, the Property Holding and Development Co of St Lucia Ltd and the Offshore Finance and Services Company of St Lucia Ltd The ECFH Ltd. provides operating management support to this entire group and controls the financial and operating management policies of all the companies in the group.