NCB Financial Group Chairman Michael Lee-Chin continued his charm offensive last week, hosting a night with some of the bank’s high and ultra-high net worth clients in a session called ‘An Evening With Mike’, assuring them that the bank has set about fixing issues caused by complacency.

Lee-Chin, who hosted three events in the series last week, reminded clients where the bank is coming from and how things broke down, but said the damage is being repaired.

“We want to just make sure you understand exactly what we are all about, where we are going, where we are coming from. We are now on a path that we are excited about and less unhappy. I’m less unhappy. There is work to be done. We appreciate your confidence in us; we will not let you down,” Lee-Chin said.

Documenting the bank’s history, from its beginning in 1837, and calling it “the most venerable business in Jamaica”, the NCB Financial Group chairman noted that as a systemically important financial institution (SIFI), he is conscious that whatever happens to NCB will impact Jamaica.

“And as stewards of this venerable organisation, which will outlive all of us, we take that responsibility very seriously. So, under our watch, there are certain things that we will make sure happen,” he continued.

He told his audience that one thing that will happen is that the relationship between the bank and its customers will improve after there were some breakdown in recent years.

“At its essence, banking is a relationship business… and as we talk about relationships, we need to understand what the component parts are of a great long-term sustainable relationship is. Firstly, it must be based on integrity. Secondly, decisions must be made in an intelligent way, a rational way, and hopefully on frameworks so there is consistency of behaviour over time, irrespective of what the times are like. Thirdly, there must be passion in the relationship. And lastly, there must be alignment,” he said.

He noted that all four aspects of relationships have to be present, adding that if even one is absent, the relationship won’t work, as he reaffirmed his commitment, and that of the NCB Financial Group, to have all characteristics working together at the same time to ensure the bank continues to fulfil the desires of its customers.

“Our commitment to you is that we will bring the best services to envelope you, so that you can become the best version of yourselves, whether you are an individual or a corporation. So, whatever it takes, that’s our commitment to you.”

And he pledged that the bank will have to be transparent in identifying issues and tackling them rather than ducking and shirking its responsibilities.

He also reminded the audience of where the bank is coming from, starting with its purchase — which was made through his AIC Barbados holding company — dividing the history of the institution with him at the helm as the period from March 2002 when he acquired a majority stake in what was then a failing institution that had been taken over by the Government, up to July last year when changes were made to the management ranks, and the second period from then on.

“In March 2002, we came in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. This bank, this institution was in Finsac… we inherited an institution that was inefficient; it had poor governance and awful customer service. That’s what we got in 2002,” Lee-Chin stated. Finsac, the acronym for the Financial Sector Adjustment Company, was the vehicle which the Government used in the mid- to late-1990s to take over a series of businesses, including financial institutions, which had failed. NCB itself was merged with the now-defunct Mutual Security Bank Jamaica Limited in 1996, six years ahead of the sale to AIC Barbados when Lee-Chin acquired 75 per cent of the institution under the urging of Patrick Hylton, the now former CEO of the NCB Financial Group, who at the time of the sale was the head of Finsac.

“We worked hard and turned it around. We became more efficient. We put in good corporate governance structure, and customer service was very excellent,” Lee-Chin reminded. That included bringing in Hylton after Aubyn Hill, the now senator and minister of industry, investments and commerce, departed as CEO.

“When we purchased NCB, we came in with a fresh pair of eyes. In fact, we knew absolutely what was in our toolkits for success. There are four assets in our toolkits. One, we approach each day with a fresh pair of eyes; two, we are problem solvers; three, we connect dots; and four, we align people,” he added.

But he said, having found success using those four tools, things have since broken down.

“Success begets complacency, begets mediocrity. It happens to all of us. That’s what we went through until July 2023,” he continued. And on the screen behind him, he showed a Jamaica Observer article from July 13, 2023, entitled “I’m not happy”, which he said was the beginning of the change.

“I was interviewed by one of the major newspapers here and there is a very famous article, everybody in Jamaica knows that headline. Everywhere I go in Jamaica, people say, you know that headline, ‘I’m not happy’. So, why I wasn’t happy? [It’s] because we succumbed to success begets complacency begets mediocrity. We had become more inefficient. We had become less disciplined in terms of what we did. This is governance, and governance doesn’t start at the board. Governance starts with the individuals taking responsibility for ownership. That’s governance. And governance in a corporation is individuals aligning and taking responsibility for the standard operation procedure,” he outlined.

“We became lax in that area. So, I was not happy because everywhere I go, I get complaints,” he added.

Lee-Chin said that set in him a resolve to make changes with a new era starting on July 17. The head of the organisation was separated and a host of other managers went shortly thereafter.

For Lee-Chin, the change had to be made. The NCB Financial Group, he pointed out, with total assets of $2.2 trillion, is as large as the combined assets of eight of the country’s largest companies – the JMMB Group, Sagicor, JN Bank, GraceKennedy, VM Group, Proven, Barita and Seprod.

“That puts things in perspective as to who NCB is,” he pointed out, reeling off a list of NCB’s impact on Jamaica.

He said NCB banks approximately 50 per cent of the adult population and has the largest share of deposits of small and medium enterprises in the country. The bank has the largest branch network and the largest ABM network. It has 60 per cent of point-of-sale machines and handles five million in point-of-sale transactions per month. In addition, it was noted that NCB was the pioneer in introducing credit cards to Jamaica and has 61 per cent of all credit cards issued in the country. Its individual customers do two million online transactions per month, while businesses do over one million, including paying salaries, and its NCB Foundation has impacted 200,000 lives and counting.

And with the mantra that NCB is building a better Jamaica, Lee-Chin said it was his duty to help Jamaicans become as successful as he is.

“Today, I asked myself the question, what’s the highest value add, we as a financial institution, NCBFG, which includes we in Jamaica and Guardian…can offer you? We want to envelop you to make you the best version of yourself. We will do whatever we can to not just protect your wealth… we will do whatever we can to make you wealthy… There is work to be done. We won’t let you down,” he stressed.