DEBRA Lopez has resigned as director of wealth management at FirstCaribbean International Bank Jamaica (FCIBJ) effective next month and will be joining Scotiabank Jamaica to head up its private banking arm — Scotia Private Client Group (SPCG).

In a release to the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday, FCIBJ advised that Lopez will step down on February 12, after two years with the firm.

Scotiabank Jamaica public relations specialist Simone Hull informed Sunday Finance that Lopez will replace SPCG general manager Bridgette Lewis. Hull declined to state where Lewis would be going, but Sunday Finance sources said she will be heading to Canada to take up a senior position within Scotiabank’s parent company.

Lopez boasts almost 10 years of experience in the financial services sector, having started out as an account executive in the Corporate Banking Division of Westpac Banking Corporation in New Zealand.

Lopez, whose professional expertise includes marketing, operations, investment and relationship management, joins Scotiabank Jamaica at a time when the profitability of local financial institutions is expected to be squeezed by the Government’s Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) programme. The programme will see holders of some $700 billion worth of domestic government bonds which carry varying interest rates, ranging up to 28 per cent, exchange them for new bonds that will carry much lower interest rates and extended maturities. Financial institutions earn a significant portion of their revenues from the interest payments they receive from government securities, with Scotiabank Jamaica earning $18.1 billion or 37 per cent of its $47.9 billion gross operating income from interest from securities during its financial year that ended October 31, 2009.

Against this background, a source told Sunday Finance that Lopez is a good addition to Scotia at this time.

“She is a performer; she knows the martket; she knows the people; and she will deliver for any institution that has her services. Scotia has a wide product range and she will fit in well,” said the source.

Prior to joining FirstCaribbean, she spent four years at NCB Capital Markets, where she held the position of Vice-President Wealth Management and Distribution, with responsibility for increasing the company’s market share through wealth advisory services and product offerings. She is also a former assistant vice-president and branch manager of DB&G, which was acquired by Scotiabank in 2006.

Lopez has a BSc in Economics & Finance from Barry University and holds an MBA from Florida International University.