After almost three decades of operations in the Cayman Islands, the National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) through its NCB (Cayman) Limited (NCBKY) subsidiary has been granted a 'Category A' banking licence by the regulators in that country.

The licence issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) will enable the financial institution for the first time in its near 30-year history to offer bespoke private banking services to high-net worth residents of Cayman and local businesses.

Prior to this NCBKY held a 'Category B' banking licence which permitted only non-resident business.

"We are pleased to now provide our private banking services to help high-net worth individuals locally, as well as globally, to grow and preserve their wealth. We can now also service local companies and look forward to supporting and financing some exciting projects and developments in the Cayman Islands," commented Tuula Jalasjaa, acting managing director of NCBKY, in a recent news release.

"The upgraded licence demonstrates NCBKY's continued strong commitment to growing our business in the Caribbean, and our belief in the Cayman Islands as the jurisdiction of choice for high-net worth clients in the region and beyond. We are here to support the ongoing success of Cayman for the long term," he added.

NCBKY along with NCB Capital Markets (Cayman) Ltd are both entities operating as part of the larger NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) chaired by Jamaican-Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin. Together the entities offer banking and wealth management services to a range of high-net worth international clients, institutions, companies and regulated entities.

Aside from its local and Cayman Islands businesses, the group also operates affiliate locations in Trinidad, Barbados and Canada. Its roots in the region dates to as far back as 1837.

"On our way to becoming a Caribbean financial ecosystem, we will continue to employ organic and inorganic growth strategies to increase our customer base and achieve market leadership. Current regional expansion initiatives will see the group scaling across the region, mainly in the areas of corporate and investment banking, with more opportunities in the making," the group had said of its outlook in its 2021 annual report published earlier this year.

For the nine months ended June, the regional financial conglomerate delivered net operating income of $105.6 billion with $80 billion or more than half of its revenues flowing from banking and investment activities. Profit for the period was $25.8 billion of which $18.6 billion was attributable to shareholders of the parent company.