Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada has closed the sale of its Eastern Caribbean banking operations to a consortium of regional banks.
“This transaction will allow RBC to align investments and resources into markets where our vision for being the Caribbean’s digitally enabled relationship bank can be executed most successfully,” said Rob Johnston, head of Caribbean banking, in a release.
The sale includes RBC’s 11 branches in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The consortium buying these operations consists of 1st National Bank of St. Lucia, Antigua Commercial Bank, Bank of Dominica, Bank of Montserrat and the Bank of Nevis.
“The sale of our Eastern Caribbean banking operations to indigenous banks is also a critical step forward in strengthening the domestic financial services sectors in each of the countries and territories involved,” Johnston said. “This will help create a stronger climate for further growth, development and prosperity.”
With the sale’s conclusion, RBC’s Caribbean presence, supported by 3,000 employees, now includes 41 branches and offices across Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.