Bahamas - FirstCaribbean International Bank

Country Manager’s ReportYear in ReviewI am extremely pleased to take this opportunityas the Bahamas Country Head to report on theresults of your bank for 2002.This past fiscal has by far been the most excitingand challenging for our company in its 6 yearhistory. Perhaps fittingly, our new companybegan its operations the day after we celebratedDiscovery Day when the combined operationsof CIBC and Barclays in the Bahamas and Turksand Caicos began operation as FirstCaribbeanInternational Bank.Throughout the long and complicated processof bringing our banks together from a legalperspective, we have received strong supportfrom our employees, our customers, ourshareholders and our regulators. We appreciatethe hard work, support, patience,understanding and cooperation from all.Financial StrengthFirstCaribbean Bahamas, with total assets ofmore than $3.2 billion and capital of $467million, is the largest and best capitalized of anylocally incorporated financial institution in thismarket and positions us well for our journeyinto the new world.Our financial strengths include our diversifiedasset base which includes $1.4 billion in cashand securities, $1.5 billion in loans, of whichmortgages represent a very significant amountand more than $530 million along with ourstrong capital base.As indicated in the pro forma financial results,our net income on a pro forma basis hasremained flat during this transitional period,while commercial banks’ profits in the marketare reported by the Central Bank as being downsome 14% through September 2002. This isobvioulsy an accomplishment we are pleasedwith.These results are clearly due to the efforts of allour employees, the strong support of our parentbanks and the loyalty of our customers.Operations & TechnologyThe substantial investments made in ourOperation Support Center and technology overrecent years have resulted in a platform wellpositioned to take on the additional volumesresulting from the combination.We are very proud of our Support Center locatedon East West Highway and its people, as webelieve it represents one of the most modern andefficient processing centers in the region.The success of our Bank will be dependentupon a disciplined and effective approach togovernance and compliance and, with thesupport of our ultimate parents, two world classbanks, we are further strengthening our systemscontrols and processes.Human ResourcesFirstCaribbean’s employees have, for the mostpart, embraced the combination and are keento help establish FirstCaribbean as a householdname. To the employees in The Bahamas andTurks and Caicos, who have opted to leave thebank, on the Voluntary Leavers' Scheme, wewish to express our sincere thanks for all theircontributions over these many years.All of us at FirstCaribbean have a tremendousresponsibility to ensure the integration of ourheritage banks is completed effectively and withminimum disruption to our customers. We areencouraged by the resiliency of our people tothis time and the progress being made.To prove the point, our employees are movingto advance their skills ahead at great speed.Training and development in all areas, includingcredit assessment and operations and technology,have continued to be an important focus for the26