The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) will be moving some of its back-office operations from Nethersole Place to the former French embassy that it just acquired for US$7.965 million ($1.25 billion).

This was confirmed in an e-mail by the BOJ, who confirmed the acquisition of the 13 Hillcrest Avenue property from Charlemagne Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sygnus Real Estate Finance Limited (SRF). SRF’s audited financials noted that the transaction was completed on October 3. Back-office operations typically refer to non-public facing activities and usually involves support activities like information technology (IT), human resources, accounting, record keeping and settlements.

“[The] Bank of Jamaica confirms that it has acquired the property. The bank will be relocating certain back-office operations to the location in the near future. The operations to be relocated are not public facing in nature. Acquisition of the location enhances the resilience of the bank to withstand geological events with the potential to disrupt operations at its primary location,” the BOJ noted.

The Hillcrest Avenue property is currently tenanted by The Attorney-General’s Chambers, which pays a lease to occupy the property. The BOJ didn’t indicate when it would be moving its team to the property, but it is likely to take place at a later date as the attorney-general’s team move to a different space. SRF noted in prior earnings calls that the current tenant at the former French embassy would be moving to the nine-storey building it just completed on 1-3 Belmont Avenue, Kingston 5, which has been dubbed ‘One Belmont’. SRF noted in its most recent call that its first tenant would be moving to One Belmont next month.

The BOJ’s move to acquire the property comes at a time when it is currently processing a tender related to the construction of a 10-storey building at its downtown Kingston head office. The initial submission deadline for the tender was on May 3, but the construction of the second tower would be executed over five years on land owned by the BOJ. The BOJ has effectively maxed out its current location at Nethersole Place with its staff complement of 690 persons, with 500 persons being permanent staff.

That staff complement is going to increase in the coming years as the Jamaica moves to a twin peaks regulatory model, which will involve the BOJ becoming the prudential supervisor of the country’s entire financial sector while the Financial Services Commission (FSC) becomes a supervisor for market conduct and consumer protection. As a result, the BOJ would eventually oversee the securities, insurance, corporate services, pension and credit unions at a later date. It currently regulates deposit-taking institutions, cambios, remittance agents, microcredit firms, credit bureaus and financial holding companies. Twin peaks has been projected for 2026, but that date can be pushed back due to the time it takes for legislative amendments to make its way through Cabinet, which has been described as onerous by BOJ Governor Richard Byles.