Republic Bank Limited is a leading Caribbean financial institution headquartered in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It has operations in

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

, the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

St. Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

and

. It was formerly a division of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

in Trinidad and Tobago.

History

As a subsidiary of UK banks

Flag of Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

The forerunner of Republic Bank, ''Colonial Bank'', was established on 15 May 1837 by Royal Charter.Republic Bank Limited financial statement
to the

Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) is the main stock exchange in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and the largest stock exchange in the Caribbean region by market capitalization. As a member-state of CARICOM several companies from ...

, December, 2003 John Irving MP was the first chairman.Colonel J.B.Irving, ''The Book of the Irvings'', 1908 Colonial Bank was reported to have a "virtual

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

" on banking in nineteenth century Trinidad. In 1909 the Colonial Bank established a branch on High Street,

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

. In 1925 Colonial Bank merged with the Anglo-Egyptian Bank (est. 1864) and the

National Bank of South Africa First National Bank (FNB; af, Eerste Nasionale Bank (ENB)) is one of South Africa's " big four" banks. It is a division of FirstRand, a large financial services conglomerate, which trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), under th ...

(est. 1891) to form

Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

(Barclays Bank (DCO) ). Barclays had inherited the ownership of Colonial Bank when it acquired London Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918. On 6 May 1926, Colonial Bank changed its name to

Barclays Bank (DCO) Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

. In 1939, as a result of the labor disturbances and the announcement that Britain was at war with Germany, the bank experienced a run. In 1963 Barclays Bank acquired Bank of Trinidad, established in 1959. On 1 April 1972,

Barclays DCO Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

became

Barclays Bank International Limited Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

. 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 In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...

of shares. In 1977 Barclays Bank Trinidad and Tobago sold the majority of its shares locally. This prompted another name change, to Republic Bank Limited, on 1 April 1981. In 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%. In 1992 RB and Grupo Acedo-Mendoza established Acedo-Mendoza Fincor C.A., a

confirming house A confirming house is a specialised UK agency that purchases and arranges the export of goods on the behalf of overseas buyers. They finance the movement of goods into the country by offering short-term credit to importers and guaranteeing, or confi ...

with offices in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

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

, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. In 1994 RB purchased 23% of Bank of Commerce Trinidad and Tobago Limited. RB also 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

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

and Barbuda,

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. The shareholding is currently 14%. In 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. In 1997 The purchase of approximately 10.9 million shares gave RB a total of 95.3% of Bank of Commerce. RB also acquired 47.5% of the shares of National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC) from the government of

. In 1999 RB established Republic Bank (Barbados) as an offshore bank to complement the operations of its

subsidiary. In 2003 RB acquired a 57% interest in the Barbados National Bank (BNB) in

. RB also acquired 93% of the failed Banco Mercantil (est. 1984), the sixth largest bank in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. 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. In 2006 RB rebranded NBIC as Republic Bank (Guyana). In 2007 Republic Bank (DR) sold its operations. The acquirer was Banco BHD of the Dominican Republic. In 2009, CL Financial (the parent of CLICO), had financial problems, and its shares came under the control of the Trinidad government. In 2012 Republic Bank, which had accumulated a 65% stake in Barbados National Bank, renamed it Republic Bank (Barbados). Also in 2012, RB acquired 8.79% of the shares of HFC Bank (Ghana). In 2013 RB acquired the remaining shares in Republic Bank (Barbados). Republic Bank delisted the shares of BNB from the Barbados Stock Exchange at end 2013. Also in 2013, RB increased its shareholding in HFC Bank (Ghana) to 40%, making it the largest single shareholder.

Subsidiaries

In addition to its main banking operations in Trinidad and Tobago, Republic Bank has the following subsidiariesSubsidiaries
Republic Bank website. * Republic Finance and Merchant Bank Limited (FINCOR) * Republic Bank (Grenada) Limited * Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited * Republic Bank (Suriname) Limited * Republic Bank Trinidad & Tobago (Cayman) Limited * London Street Project Company Limited * Republic Bank (Barbados) * 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

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

FirstCaribbean International Bank CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) is a financial services company based in Barbados and the Caribbean subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The bank was founded in 2002 as FirstCaribbean International Bank th ...

* National Commercial Bank of Jamaica *

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

RBTT The Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) was a commercial bank based in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest commercial banking corporations in the Caribbean region. As of 2008 RBTT Holdings had a group asset base of over US$6.2 billion ...

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* Republic Bank website. * Colonial Bank Correspondence 1837-1885, University of the West Indies library. Banks of Trinidad and Tobago Banks established in 1981 Brands of Trinidad and Tobago Companies in the TTSE Composite