New image as Barclays becomes FirstCaribbean

The merger took place almost a year ago, but it was only this weekend that Barclays Bank in Belize made the visual transition to FirstCaribbean International. In a ceremony held Sunday afternoon officials from the bank as well as Prime Minister Said Musa described what the bank’s new face means to the region.

Julian Murillo, Executive Dir., Retail Banking

“Eleven months ago, on October fourteenth 2002, we introduced the world to FirstCaribbean International Bank. Since that date, a tremendous amount of work has gone into streamlining our operations, building our brand, and more importantly, making FirstCaribbean the bank of choice for the people of our region.

We had to obtain the approval of fifteen governments, eight Central Banks and monetary authorities and four stock exchanges across the region. We had to navigate our way through the complexities and challenges of fifteen bodies of law and practice and regulatory infrastructure. No easy task, but a very necessary one, which has today given us pride of place among regional indigenous banks.”

Prime Minister Said Musa

“FirstCaribbean coming to Belize and indeed the whole region, is a clear indication of the changing world we live in, of the way our Caribbean is developing. We are moving towards the creation of a single market and economy. Here in Belize it comes at a very appropriate time, a time when we are celebrating our independence, because FirstCaribbean to my mind is also another indication of the indigenation of banking in our region. Of Belizeans and Caribbean people showing that we can do it for ourselves.”

FirstCaribbean International was formed by the merger between the Caribbean operations of Barclays and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. In Belize FirstCaribbean operates four branches with a total of seventy-five employees.