About TCI Bank

Background

The establishment of a TCI homegrown (indigenous) bank has been the dream
of most TCI Belongers. TCI Bank Limited (TCIB), the first Indigenous Bank
established in the Turks & Caicos Islands, blossomed out of an idea germinated
by Madeline (Pat) Potter and nurtured into existence by ABI Bank Limited of
Antigua, its main promoter. It was Mrs. Potter, a native of Grand Turk, who in
2004 persuaded ABI Bank Limited of Antigua & Barbuda to underwrite the cost
of setting up the Bank.

10% of the Bank’s shares are held by the TCI National Insurance Board, the
body responsible for managing the national pension fund of the Turks &
Caicos Islands. The largest shareholder group, TCI Belongers and
Companies majority-owned by TCI Belongers, holds 40% of the Bank’s
shares. A mixed group of TCI Belongers and Non-TCI Permanent Residents
owns 20%. And, the following Eastern Caribbean banks own the remaining 30%
of the Bank’s share capital:
  1. ABI Bank Limited & its subsidiary Antigua Overseas Bank Limited
  2. Bank of Nevis Limited
  3. Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Limited
  4. Grenada Cooperative Bank Limited
  5. National Bank of Anguilla Limited
  6. National Bank of Dominica Limited
  7. St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank Limited
Class Shareholders % of Total Shares # of Directors
A TCI National Insurance Board 10% 1
B TCI Belongers, TCI Non-Belonger Residents, TCI Bank Limited Non-Belonger Directors & Employees and Companies Majority Owned by Members of All of These Groups 20% 2
C TCI Belonger Companies 20% 2
D TCI Belonger Individuals 20% 2
E OECS Indigenous Banks 30% 3
Total Shares 100% 10

Eager to spread the gospel of uncompromising excellent customer service to the Turks & Caicos Islands, ABI Bank Limited, a member of Antigua & Barbuda’s single largest financial conglomerate, responded to the wish of the TCI Government that the Bank should be at least 60% owned by TCI Belongers and their majority-owned Companies.

Given TCIB’s homegrown roots and the high level of direct foreign investment that pours into the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Bank strikes a balance between its dual goals of:
  1. 1. Giving Turks and Caicos Islanders and Non-Belonger-Residents opportunities to realize their dreams of becoming significant players in the economic activity of the Islands, and
  2. 2. Financing and providing a wide range of services to the Inward Investment Community, given the very important role that this group plays in the economic development of the Islands.
Satisfying the dual needs of these two anchor groups, inspired the selection of the Bank’s motto “Your Bank, Our Bank, The Nation’s Bank”. In this regard, the Bank wishes to again publicly recognize the talents of Jessica Joseph, the student who composed this motto and accordingly won for her school, the Enid Capron Primary School, a computer and printer from TCIB.

TCIB occupies approximately 11,634 square feet of ground floor space at Butterfield Square comprising a spectacular array of exquisitely appointed suites and lobby spaces designed around the concept of one-on-one customer interface, with complete confidentiality, privacy and comfort.


Leadership Team

The Bank’s executive management team comprises:
  1. Mr. John H. R. Benjamin, BSc MBA TEP, Managing Director
  2. Mrs. Madeline Wynns-Potter, dip. Sec Science, Company Secretary & HRM Manager
  3. Mrs. Claire Robinson, AA, Financial Services, Manager Credit & Business Development
  4. Mr. Alix Bleus, BA MA, Manager Operations
  5. Mr. James Malcolm, dip. Planning & Development, Manager Finance & Planning
  6. Mr. Nigel Guy, BSc ACIB, Internal Auditor & Chief Compliance Officer
  7. Mr. Pershing A. R. Waldron, Cert. Banking RIM Manager, Grand Turk Branch
The Bank’s Board of Directors comprises the following persons:
  1. Mr. Washington Misick, Chairman, savvy investor, visionary, and a former TCI Chief Minister
  2. Mr. Carl Simmons, Vice Chairman,proprietor of the TCI Tropical Shipping Agency
  3. Mrs. Madeline Wynns-Potter,Director & Company Secretary, retired bank-HRM officer
  4. Mr. Delton Jones, TCI Government Chief Economist
  5. Mr. Trevor M. Cooke, successful entrepreneur and Director, TCI National Insurance Board
  6. Mr. Andrew Newlands, prominent TCI property developer, lawyer and accountant
  7. Mr. Albray Butterfield, prominent, iconic, successful TCI businessman & church leader
  8. Mr. McAlister Abbott, entrepreneur, financial group founder and Managing Director ABI Group of Companies
  9. Mrs. Carolyn Philip, Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs, ABI Financial Group
  10. Mr. John H. R. Benjamin, Managing Director, former bank financial group general manager and financial consultant

How TCIB Fills Need Gaps

Perhaps the most astonishing and distinctive feature of TCIB is the Bank’s success in totally eliminating queuing for services. Long accustomed to taking novels to their bank as an indispensable companion for passing the one or two hours of waiting time in teller lines, TCI Belongers and Residents express loud sighs of relief when they witness the TCI service magic. No queues! And all front office tellers and personal bankers operating within service suites are equipped with personal ATM machines (Cash dispensers) that dispense cash instantly without errors for customers wishing to cash cheques or make withdrawals from their deposit accounts.
By hiring and providing continuous training to a team of personal, private and business-development bankers with the right combination of skills and attributes, TCI Bank will assist customers to attain their life-goals. The Bank achieves this by adding to its service recipe the following ingredients of unparallel service:

Strength from Alliances with Eastern Caribbean Banks

Most successful high growth companies owe their success partially to the alliances they join. American Airlines uses its AAdvantage Card to promote its interest and that of its alliance partners comprising the One World Group, hotel chains, rent-a-car franchisers and financial institutions.

To protect TCIB against credit risk and expand the reach of the Bank into other countries, TCIB has entered into commercial agreements with banks in the Eastern Caribbean through ECIC Holdings Limited to co-finance large projects. ECIC Holdings Limited is an Eastern Caribbean integration company owned by a group of indigenous banks in the Leeward and Windward Islands and Turks & Caicos Islands. ECIC coordinates the consortium lending activities of this unique group of banks whose combined assets exceed US$2 billion. So if TCIB is approached to finance a large project with good prospects, TCIB can call on the group of banks to share in funding the project. This reduces TCIB’s risk considerably and gives TCIB the ability to compete head-to-head with its competitors. TCIB’s approach to lending is also safer because several very experienced banks using modern analytical and evaluation techniques pronounce judgment on consortium loans for large projects. By working in close collaboration with the ECIC Group Banks, TCIB also benefits from referral business from group members and their clients. The arrangements with ECIC allows TCIB to accommodate large borrowers as well as more borrowers than would have been the case were TCIB operating merely as a stand-alone bank.


Below are some vital statistics on the ECIC Group of Banks.


ECIC Holdings Loan Consortium Group Vital Statistics
Selected Data Results
Total Assets Greater than US$2.0 Billion
Total Equity Greater than US$200 Million
Statutory Lending Limit Greater than US$50 Million
# of Jurisdictions in which Banks Operate Nine (9)

All of the banks that are part of the ECIC Group are moving to adopt uniform best practices and best-of-breed systems in their operations. They all pay close attention to risk management and corporate governance.

The combination of unparalleled best service and best practice is TCIB’s guarantee of success, gaining for the Bank the respect of its competitors. TCI Bank wins business through the referent power of its growing base of delighted customers.
TCI Bank is here to stay.
When we trace the history of indigenous banks in the Eastern Caribbean, two remarkable attributes stand out: their ages and competitive positions. Most of them are over 25 years old and as a group they control over sixty percent of banking business in the sub-region. In the larger CARICOM territories of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana, regional indigenous banks as a group enjoy more than a 70% share of banking business.

St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank with total assets in excess of US$600 million made a 2005 pre-tax profit of circa US$15 million. This 36-year-old indigenous bank is the Eastern Caribbean’s financial services technology leader as well as the most profitable bank in the sub region.

In Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts/Nevis, Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia the largest indigenous bank in each of these islands is bigger than the First Caribbean International Bank branches in each named territory.

In Antigua & Barbuda, the ABI Financial Group with assets in excess of US$500 million is the single largest financial services conglomerate in that territory. The group comprises a domestic bank, an international bank, a general & life insurance company, a brokerage firm in Miami, a real estate holding company that owns over 90% of the largest hotel property in the territory, an investment company….. The list goes on! ABI Bank (16 years old) and its 50-year-old elder brother, Antigua Commercial Bank, together have over 40% of Antigua & Barbuda’s banking business, notwithstanding competition from international banks like First Caribbean International Bank, Scotia Bank and Royal Bank of Canada.

In Anguilla, Caribbean Commercial Bank (Anguilla) Limited and National Bank of Anguilla Limited trump both First Caribbean International Bank and Scotia Bank in terms of market share of banking business. Both banks have consistently posted high levels of profitability.

National Bank of Dominica has approximately 50% of total market deposits of Dominica and Bank of St. Lucia’s parent company, Eastern Caribbean Financial Holdings Limited, is St. Lucia’s single largest financial conglomerate with assets approximating US$500 million.

These indigenous banks have learned how to compete with international giants as well as regional titans; and TCI Bank is benefiting from their shared experience.

Absent the able sponsorship of ABI Bank Limited, the compelling performance record of the Eastern Caribbean indigenous banks, and the lessons learned from the Eastern Caribbean experience, the TCI public might have been skeptical about the prospects of their first homegrown bank. But as Louis H. Lockhart, founder of the Antigua Commercial Bank, said: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come!” And, TCI Bank has indeed come to take it rightful place in the sun!

And so, without the assistance of a skillfully crafted publicity campaign, TCI Bank opened its doors for business on December 5, 2005 and within sixteen months of its opening produced the following impressive score card:

TCI Bank Score Card
Selected Data First Six Months of Operation First 16 Months of Operation
# of Deposit A/Cs 1,350 4,000
# of Loan Accounts 275 725
Total Assets US$47,000,000 US$84,000,000
Total Loans US$10,000,000 US$43,000,000
Total Deposits US$38,000,000 US$75,000,000
Total Share Capital US$10,000,000 US$11,000,000
Selected Data Current # Forecast Dec 06
Total Staffing 32 50
# of Languages Spoken 6 7
Source: TCI Bank Limited Internal Document

What is remarkable about the above results is the realization that the Bank attained this outstanding score card without having to resort to any extensive or deeply penetrative media campaign. As mentioned earlier, excitingly positive feedback on service experience by delighted customers who share their experience with business partners and associates accounts for the high rate of progress. By competing as market differentiators, TCI Bank projects that it will gain the largest share of banking business in the Turks & Caicos Islands by June 2011.


Source of the Bank’s Success

Turning now to the crucial question of why TCI Bank Limited can expect to take a leadership position in terms of share of banking business, we offer the following predications:
In summary, the inevitability of TCI Bank’s success rests on three solid pillars:




Home
Personal Banking
Corporate Banking
Internet Banking
About TCI Bank