NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) has named Julian Mair, JMMB Group’s chief investment strategist, to replace Robert Almeida as group chief executive on November 17.

Almeida’s term at the financial holding company ends on September 30.

Dave Garcia, who has been serving as group general counsel and chief administrative officer, has been appointed group chief operating officer effective September 1. He will act as group CEO from October 1 until Mair takes office.

The group’s wholly owned Jamaican retail bank, National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCBJ), also confirmed Sheree Martin as chief executive, effective September 1. She has served as interim CEO since January 19 and is the first woman appointed to the position, the bank said.

Almeida, who also chairs NCBJ, will leave the boards of the bank, NCB Financial Group, and Guardian Holdings on September 30. Neither of the August 31 leadership releases named his successor as NCBJ chairman. He will remain a director of the group’s Bermuda-based banking subsidiary, Clarien Bank.

Ky-Ann Taylor has been appointed group general counsel and corporate secretary effective September 1, while continuing as NCBJ’s general counsel.

MARTIN… confirmed as National Commercial Bank Jamaica’s first woman chief executive, effective September 1

NCBFG said Mair’s appointment followed a “structured succession process” and that the group would focus on growth after three years of restructuring. Its strategy and operating priorities would continue through the handover, the company said.

“Strong institutions prepare their next generation of leadership well in advance,” Group Chairman Michael Lee-Chin said in the release.

Almeida became interim group CEO in July 2023, when NCBFG said it was continuing its search for a permanent chief executive. He was confirmed in the role effective February 9, 2024. The regulatory notice announcing that appointment did not specify an end date.

An attempt by the
Jamaica Observer to reach Lee-Chin by phone for further comment was unsuccessful.

Mair’s resignation from JMMB takes effect on September 25, according to a disclosure by that company. NCBFG said he has more than 33 years of experience in financial services, including investment banking, capital markets and regional business development. He chaired the Jamaica Stock Exchange from 2020 to 2024.

NCBFG also announced that it had completed the sale of shares in its wholly owned banking subsidiary, NCB (Cayman) Limited, to Clarien after receiving regulatory approvals.

NCB Financial Group’s headquarters. The financial holding company says it will focus on growth after three years of restructuring.

The internal reorganisation is intended to improve capital use and operating efficiency and consolidate offshore wealth and investment management under the Clarien brand, NCBFG said. It said the transaction had no material impact on group earnings or assets and would not disrupt client services.

A related sale of a portfolio of wealth and investment client relationships remains subject to the necessary approvals or regulatory non-objections, the company said.

NCBFG’s latest financial results showed consolidated net profit of $18.6 billion for the nine months ended June 30, 2026, down 39 per cent from a year earlier. The previous year’s result included a one-off $15.1-billion gain from the sale of the group’s Netherlands insurance brokerage business.

Excluding that gain, net profit would have risen 21 per cent, NCBFG said. Group operating expenses fell five per cent to $70.8 billion.

Martin has more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in financial services and energy. Her previous responsibilities included retail banking, operations and credit underwriting, according to the bank.

In January, Almeida outlined a goal of cutting NCBJ’s cost-to-income ratio from more than 80 per cent “into the 60s” — reducing the share of each dollar of income spent on operating costs. He singled out debit card replacements and the work involved in correcting payment errors.