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AmericasAugust 3 2009

New challenges for sober times

On top of the economic slowdown, Trinidad has other matters to contend with, including the government bail-out of its largest insurance company, Clico, and the acquisition of its second largest bank, RBTT, by Royal Bank of Canada. Writer Brian Caplen
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New challenges for sober times

Trinidad and Tobago's banks are in the midst of a huge upheaval - some of it crisis related and, following the collapse of Clico, the insurance arm of CL Financial Group, in January, the rest due to longer-term structural changes in Caribbean banking.

The country's second largest bank, RBTT, is busy integrating with its new owners, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC); state-owned First Citizens is busy absorbing Caribbean Money Market Brokers (CMMB), the brokerage arm of the failed CL Financial Group; Republic Bank faces an uncertain future with 55% of its shares now held in trust by the central bank, also a result of the CL collapse; and Scotiabank is centralising parts of its Caribbean back office, with many processing operations now carried out in Trinidad. As all of this is happening, banks must also pay attention to the more mundane aspects of the economic slowdown such as reduced business opportunities and rising delinquencies.

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