Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) completed its acquisition of Scotiabank’s operations in the [British] Virgin Islands on May 31, 2020, and all 51 staff members of former Scotiabank have been retained.

“And there will be absolutely no staff retrenchment,” stated Managing Director of Republic Bank, Ms Marion D. Blyden in an exclusive interview with Virgin Islands News Online, as she noted that Republic Bank has made a commitment to invest in the existing human resources.

Investing in local talent

“We have the facility do it as we have a dynamic training programme, so the intention is to invest in our local talent,” Ms Blyden said.

Of the 51 staff, only one person is on work permit.

Apart from all staff being retained, there has also been no shakeup in positions at the bank.

According to Ms Blyden, the staff is optimistic about the future with Republic Bank.

“The staff is excited about the change, excited about the opportunities and what we will do and of course excited about the opportunities for their professional development.

US$14.6M in profits

President and CEO of the RFHL Group, Nigel M. Baptiste, had stated in a press release on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, that the acquisition will add 51 team members to RFHL’s staff complement of approximately 6,077.

He also said that at the end of October 2019, the [British] Virgin Islands operation reported total assets of US $568.5 Million and profits of US $14.6 million.

Mr Baptiste said, based on those numbers, the total asset base of the Republic Group will increase to approximately US $15.5 Billion.

The CEO also welcomed all new team members, saying: “The RFHL Group is built on our people, since we believe that is what differentiates us from any other financial institution. It was important to us that the people behind the success of Scotia’s operations in the BVI continued to be the main drivers of the success of our new operations there.

“I am very pleased to welcome each of them to the Republic family and I look forward to their growth and ours, in the years and decades to come.”