Bahamas - FirstCaribbean International Bank

Our HeritageBarclays BankThrough the combinedstrengths of CIBC and Barclaysin the Caribbean,FirstCaribbean is poised as oneof the leading banks in theregion. Its size and diversitywill provide staff, customersand shareholders withsignificant potential andopportunity in the years tocome. FirstCaribbean is set tobecome the market leader inservice, products, ease ofaccess and innovation.Bob Hunter, Chief Executive Officer,Barclays Private Clients,LondonBarclays Bank PLC was the oldest banking institution inthe Commonwealth Caribbean. It provided unbrokenservice from May 1837 when its branches first openedtheir doors in the British West Indies.The new bank was greeted with enthusiasm. TheBarbadian described its charter as ‘one of the mostimportant documents that ever found its way fromEurope to the Western Tropical World.’ Offices quicklyopened in Barbados, Trinidad and British Guiana, soonfollowed by St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua, Dominica,St Kitts and St Vincent.The Bank’s first century saw few changes in itsoperations. The major event of this inter-war periodwas the merger of Barclays Bank (UK), the Anglo-Egyptian Bank and the Bank of South Africa, in 1925,to form Barclays Bank (Dominion Colonial andOverseas). The name was subsequently shortened, in1954, to Barclays Bank DCO.The end of World War II brought the greatest change.Until then, most of Barclays' customers came from thecommercial sector. There was now the need to activelyseek out customers in the rest of the community.Establishing branches in rural centres on the largerislands accomplished this. In Trinidad, the expansionwas notable: four branches in 1952, over 30 branchesby the mid-sixties.Government policy became a significant factoraffecting all banks in the region. In Jamaica, theManley Government nationalised Barclays in 1977. InTrinidad and Tobago, Barclays was localised in 1972 –reducing the parents' shareholding.For over 160 years Barclays served the Caribbean. Thesame pioneering spirit which motivated the opening ofthe first branch in 1837, now inflences its combinationwith CIBC to form one of the Caribbean’s largest banks.6