NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) and National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) have added a combined three new independent directors to their board of directors to further strengthen the overall governance framework of the financial conglomerate.

NCBFG has added Trinidadian Arvinder Bharath to its board effective January 2. Apart from being a senior manager of financial technology and information security at the Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago (CBTT) between October 2013 to August 2023, she had previous senior leadership roles as president and country head of RBTT Bank Limited and as head of strategy with Barclays Bank where she oversaw the market entry into Dubai and India and refining operations in East Africa and South Africa.

The 62-year-old banker retired from the CBTT in August 2023 and is currently a digital expert lead with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is also the wife of former UNC Trinidadian senator Vasant Bharath.

Her addition to the board brings the number of directors on NCBFG’s board to eight with five being independent directors. These include Bharath, Gary Brown, Thalia Lyn, Howard Shearer, and Sanya Goffe while NCBFG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Almeida and NCBJ CEO Bruce Bowen currently serve as executive directors. Michael Lee-Chin, the majority shareholder in NCBFG, continues to serve as the chairman of the board which is heavily Canadian leaning with significant international banking exposure. Bharath’s election to the board will go to a vote with shareholders at NCBFG’s next annual general meeting (AGM).

Former Digicel Jamaica CEO Allison Cole Philbert was appointed to NCBJ’s board on November 20. Philbert spent 16 months as CEO of Digicel Jamaica before she left in October 2020. The seasoned executive has over 20 years of experience with global companies which complemented her background in computer engineering and telecommunications. Philbert joined the board of Wigton Energy Limited (formerly Wigton Windfarm Limited) in February 2024.

Roger Blissett also joined NCBJ’s board on November 13. Blissett is an American financial executive who was last referenced as the head of regulatory affairs for MUFG Americas, an intermediate American holding company for Japan’s MUFG Bank, which is a member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Blissett has spent more than 30 years navigating the complex USA regulatory environment for international banks. He is the founder and CEO of EVS Advisors which he formed in April 2024 in New York City, New York.

The addition of Philbert and Blissett brings the composition of NCBJ’s board to eight directors with five independent directors. Gary Brown, Sanda Glasgow and John Bailey are the other independent directors while Lee-Chin, Almeida and Bowen also sit on NCBJ’s board. Bowen currently chairs the board of NCB Capital Markets Limited (NCBCM).

The move to create further independence amongst NCBFG and NCBJ’s board of directors comes at a time when the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), which regulates financial holding companies (FHCs) and deposit-taking institutions, seeks to regulate the number or presence of FHC directors who sit on their subsidiary boards.

“The board refreshment that has taken place within NCBFG and its major subsidiaries over the last year has enhanced independence, banking and technology expertise, diversity and global perspective,” said NCBFG in its disclosure to the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange.