A letter to the CIBC Caribbean team from CEO Mark St Hill, a napkin signed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the president and CEO of CIBC Victor Dodig, staff shirts, photos, documents, videos, and a cutting from a mahogany tree at the CIBC head office at Warrens in Barbados are among the mementos placed in a time capsule encased at the Warrens head office, to be opened in 50 years’ time.

The short ceremony, held recently, was the final phase of the events held to officially rebrand the organisation on January 30, 2024, in the company’s car park.

The packing of the capsule had actually started at that time but it was decided to include photos and videos of that event, and all the materials had to be properly packed in acid-free envelopes and enclosed in bags that would allow the items to still be intact in the year 2074.

During the ceremony, CEO Mark St Hill shared the copy of his letter to the future team telling them, “We expect that by the time you read this, our company would have undergone even more transformation as our region, our world and our clients changed and evolved.”

In addition to the CEO’s letter, a letter from the youngest employee of the bank, Alvontae Garland of Turks and Caicos Islands, was placed in the capsule.

Among the other items included in the capsule are a pair of personal cuff links belonging to Michael Mansoor, founding chairman of FirstCaribbean International Bank, which were donated by his family; sample currency notes from the various countries in which the bank operates; sample credit and debit cards; digital documents such as the latest annual and environmental, social and governance reports; a 2009 edition of the employee newsletter
Caribbean Pride; a commemorative CIBC silver coin from Canada; numerous documents of the bank, mini flags and lapel pins from the countries where the bank operates, and an audio recording of the whistling frogs heard in the evenings outside the Warrens head office.

The brainchild of Marketing Manager Sam Brathwaite, the stainless-steel box was inserted in a slot in the signage bollard in the yard of the head office by Donna Wellington, managing director Barbados Operating Company, and Brian Clarke, general counsel and group corporate secretary.