CIBC Caribbean completes asset sale in St. Maarten to Orco Bank N.V.

Bringing to an end its divestment programme announced in 2021

CIBC Caribbean (operating as CIBC FirstCaribbean in the Dutch Caribbean) has announced the successful transfer of its assets in St. Maarten to Orco Bank N.V. on Friday February 7, 2025.

Both sides have reported a smooth transition with former CIBC FirstCaribbean clients now conducting transactions seamlessly at Orco Bank N.V. locations.

This brings to an end the bank’s divestment programme announced by Chief Executive Officer Mark St. Hill, back in October 2021.

It saw the bank in the ensuing years, reduce its regional footprint selling its assets in Aruba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Our country divestment programme is now over,” said St. Hill as he praised the bank’s divestment project team led by executive sponsor Mark McIntyre, the retiring managing director of the Cayman Operating Company.

“I want to thank the entire CIBC Caribbean team and our colleagues at the buyer banks who worked diligently over the years to ensure each asset sale was executed as seamlessly as possible. These were some very complex transactions, and it is a credit to their expertise and professionalism that we were able to complete all of them within the timeframe that we set out and with relative ease,” St. Hill said.

“As Executive sponsor of our divestment programme, I could not be more proud of the job we executed so successfully. I thank the team for their commitment and dedication along the way,” McIntyre said.

“Central to the success of the divestments was our preparation and teamwork. We also importantly, chose the right partners in our buyer banks and so benefitted from an outstanding collaborative effort with every transaction,” McIntyre added.

St. Hill said the bank has enhanced the client experience and made other structural adjustments, centralized key functions, launched an Agile way of working, centralized its digital sales through the LoanStore, and revamped its Call Centers into Contact Centers.

He added the slimmed down, modern relationship bank, will continue to deliver next-generation, digitized consumer financial solutions to help make its clients ambitions a reality.