Republic Bank Limited is a 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, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. It has operations in

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, 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 Sa ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

, the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

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

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

St. Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of ...

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and

. It was formerly a division of

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) 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 ...

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 fr ...

, 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 and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

" on banking in 19th century Trinidad. In 1909 Colonial Bank established a branch on High Street, San Fernando. In 1925 Colonial Bank merged with the Anglo-Egyptian Bank (est. 1864) and the

National Bank of South Africa First National Bank (FNB; ) is one of South Africa's "Big Four (banks)#South Africa, big four" banks. It is a division of FirstRand, a large financial services conglomerate (company), conglomerate, which trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exch ...

(est. 1891) to form Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) (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). 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, which was established in 1959. On 1 April 1972, Barclays DCO became Barclays Bank International Limited. 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 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 confirmi ...

with offices in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

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 Carriacou ( ) is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a part of the nation of Grenada and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island of Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the ...

and

Petite Martinique Petite Martinique ( ) is one of the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, which is part of Grenada. It is 4 km ( miles) away from Carriacou. With its and population of 900, it is smaller than Carriacou. Petite Martinique comprises ab ...

. 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 local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

and

Barbuda Barbuda (; ) is an island and dependency located in the eastern Caribbean forming part of the twin-island state of Antigua and Barbuda as an autonomous entity. Barbuda is located approximately north of Antigua. The only settlements on the i ...

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. The shareholding is currently 14%. In 1996, RB bought another 31.14% of Bank of Commerce, taking 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 the 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 is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. 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 CL Financial was the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean, before the company encountered a major liquidity crisis and subsequent bailout in 2009. ...

(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 Securicor plc was one of the United Kingdom's largest security businesses. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with Group 4 Falck in 2004. History The Company was founded by Edward Shortt, a former Liberal Cabinet Minis ...

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 bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

CIBC Caribbean CIBC Caribbean 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 through the merger of the Caribb ...

National Commercial Bank of Jamaica The NCB Financial Group Limited ''(Jamaica Stock Exchange, JSE: NCBFG)'' is a financial services conglomerate operating in the Caribbean region and headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica. NCB Financial Group Limited is the parent company of the Nati ...

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five (banks), Big Five banks, it is the ...

* RBTT *

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

Notes

References

External links

Republic Bank
website
Colonial Bank Correspondence 1837-1885

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

library {{Portal, Banks Banks of Trinidad and Tobago Banks established in 1981 Brands of Trinidad and Tobago Companies in the TTSE Composite