NATIONAL Commercial Bank (NCB) is set to expand regionally, starting with Trinidad and Tobago.

The banking group’s subsidiary, NCB Capital Markets, was given board approvals to acquire Trinidad-based, AIC Finance last week.

“This acquisition affords us a footprint in this market and provides an opportunity to further diversify our revenues,” said Dennis Cohen, NCB’s deputy group managing director.

NCB already has a presence in the Cayman Islands through its offshore bank.

However, Trinidad and Tobago is the strongest economy in the English-speaking Caribbean, while the acquisition provides NCB with access to markets in the Eastern Caribbean due to proximity.

“AIC Finance is a relatively small institution; however, it provides one of the few, if not the only, opportunity to expand in the T&T market without significant upfront expenditure,” Cohen said.

AIC Finance recorded a TT$2.9-million ($41.8-million) pre-tax loss in the year ended September 30, 2010, which was smaller than the TT$47-million loss the company posted the year before, according to the last published financial statements.

The two years of losses appeared to have turned a small amount of retained earnings into a TT$46-million deficit. They were primarily as a result of losses on disposal and revaluation of assets in 2009, and an impairment on the goodwill on AIC Securities in 2010.

The financial position of the company and the proposed purchase price were not disclosed, but Steven Gooden, deputy CEO of NCB Capital Markets, placed the company’s assets at TT$130 million, down from TT$140 million at the end of 2010.

He also said that “the price is at a discount to an independent valuation commissioned by us”.

AIC Finance’s ultimate parent company is Portland Holding, which is owned by Michael Lee Chin and the majority shareholder in NCB.

The purchase still requires regulatory approval in Jamaica and the twin- island republic.

Once these approvals are received, NCB will be in a position to complete the transaction shortly thereafter.