NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG) has added Gary W Brown to its subsidiary board as lead independent director, Professor Alvin Wint is set to retire from the company’s board next month.

Brown joined the board of National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) on January 1 and is set to be appointed to additional subsidiary boards in the coming weeks. A request will be put forward to NCBFG shareholders at its annual general meeting (AGM) to be held in February for Brown to be elected as a director of the holding company.

Brown is the former group chief executive officer of FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited, which he led between January 2016 to October 2018. The retired banker’s career spanned 42 years with most of it spent at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and its associated subsidiaries from 2001 until his retirement in 2018.

With Brown’s appointment, it represents the latest shake-up at NCBFG and NCBJ under Chairman Michael Lee-Chin’s new efficiency, governance, and customer experience (EGC) direction which has seen the addition of multiple Canadians and expense cuts. Apart from having board member Robert Almeida stand in as interim CEO of NCBFG, he added another Canadian and former Scotiabank executive Bruce Bowen as CEO of NCBJ in October. Dr Karrian Hepburn Malcolm was brought onboard to be the head of NCBJ’s newly formed wealth management division. Hepburn is a former senior Scotiabank executive who operated between Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. The Bank of Nova Scotia/Scotiabank established its global wealth management division in October 2010 as its fourth business line.

Wint’s re-election as a director was set to be put forward at NCBFG’s AGM, but it’s been noted that the professor was seeking to reduce the scale of his directorships. As a result, he decided not to seek re-election which means that he would automatically retire from NCBFG’s board. Wint also resigned from various subsidiary boards such as NCBJ, NCB Capital Markets Limited and NCB Insurance Agency & Fund Managers Limited effective December 31. Wint joined NCBJ’s board in May 2002 shortly after Lee-Chin purchased the bank.

NCBFG has also issued an additional 1,081,784 ordinary shares within the last week which brings its issued share count to 2,544,844,612 shares. This comes after 77 million shares were issued as part of a share settlement in November to two former executive directors. The last major share issuance was a 1:4 bonus share issue in May 2002.

Corporate Movements

There have been several different corporate movements in the last three months in what can be described as a blockbuster 2023. GraceKennedy’s Chief Human Resource Officer Naomi Holness retired on December 31 with Annette Morrison assuming the role on January 3. This is GK’s latest executive change following Terry-Ann Greaver’s move as GK’s head of treasury and corporate finance to chief operating officer of its subsidiary First Global Bank Limited. Former JMMB Group Manager Greig Lindo took on the role on December 1. Gerron Thomas resigned as the GK’s group risk manager on December 31.

Oliver Holmes is set to retire as chairman and director of Wigton Windfarm Limited on January 11 with Dennis Chung to take over on January 12.

Larren Peart was added as Fontana Limited’s third non-executive director on January 1. Tracy-Ann Spence was appointed as a director of Salada Foods Jamaica Limited on December 31. Spence was also appointed as a director of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on November 22.

Massy Holdings Limited’s executive vice-president of business integrity and group general counsel Angélique Parisot-Potter resigned from the company on December 27, less than a week after her queries at the AGM.

Justice Seymour Radcliffe Panton was appointed as a director of Lasco Distributors Limited on December 7. David Andrade and Bevan Callam were appointed directors of Lasco Financial Services Limited on December 8.

John Bell was appointed as a director of TransJamaican Highway Limited effective November 3.

Eppley Limited appointed Keisha Smith as its vice-president of people on October 26 while Samantha Summerbell was appointed as the assistant vice-president of credit on October 12 after Adam Hugh resigned the day before.