JN Bank Managing Director Leesa Kow is the new chair of the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) Inc.

Kow was elected unopposed during CAB’s 49th annual general meeting held on Wednesday, 26 October at the Harbor Club resort in Saint Lucia. She succeeds Dalton Lee, founder and chairperson of the Bank of Montserrat, who served two terms as chairman of regional association.

Lee will, however, serve as director for the eastern Caribbean and Barbados, consequent on his election to the post.

Kow previously served as director for CAB’s northern Caribbean region, and the JN Bank head has also served as chairperson of CAB’s advocacy committee. With a 20-year history as a business leader in the financial services sector and telecommunications industry in Jamaica and overseas, she brings to the position a wealth of experience and success.

Also elected to serve on CAB’s board is Michael Walcott, the general manager of overseas operations at Republic Financial Holdings, who is now the deputy chairman.

Victor Boyce, managing director of ANSA Bank (Barbados), who takes over from Frances Parravicino in representing ANSA Bank on the board, will be joining Lee as a director for the eastern Caribbean and Barbados.

During the AGM members elected two first-time directors. Tracy Ebanks, CEO and general manager of the Cayman Islands Development Bank, received overwhelming support to serve as a director for the northern Caribbean while Tanya Watson-Francis, general manager, Treasury & Correspondent Banking Division at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd, was also voted director for the northern Caribbean.

Keshwar Khodai, head of group treasury at First Citizens Bank in Trinidad and Tobago, and Evelyn Wayne, director of economic policy and development at the Caribbean Community Secretariat, also return to the board.

The AGM was part of the annual CAB Conference at which more than 200 bankers from around the region and beyond gathered to discuss pressing issues facing the region’s banking industry.