Local Scotiabank account holders have begun receiving individual notification of the bank’s imminent winding down of its operations in Guyana and the now actualisation of the sale of its local banking operations to the Trinidad and Tobago-based Republic Financial Holdings Ltd (RFHL).
Over last weekend, account holders were put on notice that the two banking institutions have reached agreement on the takeover which, the communication says, is now “subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.”
Last week’s formal notification by Scotia that its operations will shortly be taken over by Republic Bank follows an announcement to that effect last November. That disclosure though, was quickly followed by a pronouncement by the Ministry of Finance that any takeover, would have to be preceded by an assessment of the implications for the country’s banking sector. Last weekend’s notification by Scotia restates the fact that its agreement with RFHL remains subject to “regulatory approval and customary closing conditions,” a pronouncement that appears to deliberately avoid providing any indication of a time line for the full and final transfer of Scotia’s assets to RFHL. The notice says that until regulatory approval and closing conditions are realised, “all Scotiabank operations in Guyana will continue as usual.”
The bank’s communication to its account holders states that there will be “no changes” to their accounts at this time and that the Bank’s various products and services remain the same at this time.
Scotia’s letter to account holders also states that as part of the transaction “all impacted Scotiabank employees will join RFHL.” In December RFHL’s Port of Spain operations had sought to provide assurances with regard to job retention by current Scotia employees. A senior official there had told the Stabroek News that while the job titles at Scotia may be different to the job titles at Republic, those titles will be “revised to be consistent throughout the expanded operation” and that this would “not affect job security, seniority in the Scotia system or compensation levels.”
