FIRSTCARIBBEAN International Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of the West Indies, which will provide UWI with US$300,000 in grant funding over the next three years.

Under the agreement US$120,000 in seed capital will be provided to UWI projects, including the expansion of teaching facilities at the Cave Hill campus. In addition to being used by students, that facility will also be used for the development and training of FirstCaribbean employees.

There will also be a grant of US$75,000 to support the establishment of a case study of the October 2002 merger of CIBC and Barclays Bank PLC, to establish FirstCaribbean.

There will also be the establishment of a FirstCaribbean scholarship programme at UWI, in which the banking institution will provide US$75,000 in scholarships to undergraduate and/or graduate students over the three-year period.

In addition, FirstCaribbean will be the official sponsor of the annual Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Lecture.

Other aspects of the multi-faceted programme include support for the launch of a Caribbean bankers’ professional training programme.

“There is no banking qualification that is Caribbean-based. There is only the British and Canadian system so this will change that,” said FirstCaribbean’s CEO, Charles Pink.

The programme will be administered under the Faculty of Social Sciences.

FirstCaribbean is one of the largest locally listed banks in the Caribbean, with some US$9 billion in assets, and operations in 15 countries and 25 islands across the region.

The signing of the MOU preceded its official launch in the Jamaican market.