Prior to 2002, the operations of what is now CIBC Caribbean were run as the separate businesses of Barclays Bank and CIBC West Indies, part of CIBC's group of companies. Barclays had been active in the region since 1836 and CIBC's foray into the region began with branches in
Jamaica in 1920. The deal closed on December 23, 2006.
CIBC absorbs Barclays share (2006) On March 13, 2006, CIBC and Barclays announced that they had signed a non-binding letter of intent enabling CIBC to acquire 43.7% of the shares of FCIB from Barclays. Upon completion of the transaction, CIBC's ownership was to increase to approximately 87.4% of FCIB. CIBC announced on 22 December 2006 that it had purchased 599,401,230 shares of FirstCaribbean from Barclays for US$988,652,389 (representing US$1.62 per share plus accrued but unpaid dividends). Barclays also retained their option to tender all or a part of the remaining holdings of 66,600,137 shares. Thereafter, CIBC proceeded with a mandatory purchase offer to all remaining shareholders at US$1.62 per share and wound up holding 91.5% of First Caribbean International Bank. CIBC Caribbean is not the only
Canadian controlled bank in the region:
Scotiabank, and the
Royal Bank of Canada also have extensive commercial banking businesses in the region and treat the region as a native market.
Cancelled plans for United States IPO (2018) In March 2018, CIBC announced that it had filed a Registration Statement on Form F-1 with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed
initial public offering (IPO) in the United States of CIBC FirstCaribbean's common shares on the
New York Stock Exchange. Through the IPO, CIBC would divest itself of most of its 91.5% stake in FCIB to refocus capital and management resources on its other North American operations. Due to a lack of interest in the American markets for CIBC's share, for "US$240-million by offering 9.6 million shares",
Regulatory failure for proposed sale to GNB (2021) CIBC, which owned in February 2021 nearly 92 per cent of FCIB, announced in late 2019 a transaction by which it would sell its share in FCIB to "
GNB Financial Group, a company run by
Colombian banker and real estate developer
Jaime Gilinski." The transaction "failed to win regulators' approval because of uncertainty about the buyer". According to one report, "GNB Financial agreed to pay US$200-million in cash, and CIBC had promised to finance the rest of the purchase price, keeping a 24.9-per-cent stake in FirstCaribbean in the process... The lead regulator reviewing the deal was the
Central Bank of Barbados, with additional oversight from the
Eastern Caribbean Central Bank." The CIBC is in a hunt for capital to increase its
CET1 ratio. ==Locations==