Republic Bank disappointed with denial of Scotia takeover plan

Republic Financial Holdings Limited, which is the parent company of Republic Bank, has expressed disappointment over the move by the Central Bank of Guyana not to grant approval for Republic Bank’s takeover of the Scotiabank operations in Guyana.

In a statement, the President and CEO of Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), Nigel Baptiste, said, while the development is disappointing, the Republic group does not dwell on disappointment.

He said as a group, Republic Financial Holdings Limited remain fully engaged and committed to supporting the nation of Guyana through its operations in Guyana, as well as toward ensuring the success of all activities for which they have received the requisite regulatory approvals, under the proposed acquisition.

Mr. Baptiste said the company appreciates the Bank of Guyana’s acknowledgement of the value of the bank’s longstanding role in the development of Guyana’s financial landscape and its continued contribution to the financial sector in Guyana.

The Central Bank earlier this week informed Republic Bank and Scotiabank that it was not granting approval for the takeover.

Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr. Gobin Ganga told News Source earlier this week that a complete evaluation of the takeover plan was done and a decision was made not to grant approval to the proposed move.

He said there were a number of factors that influenced the decision, including competition and concentration in the market.

It was back in November 2018 that Scotiabank announced plans to sell all of its Guyana operations to Republic Holdings Limited.

The Government of Guyana immediately raised its concern and pointed out that with Republic Bank currently holding 35.4% of the banking systems assets and 36.8% of deposits in Guyana, its acquisition of Scotiabank would push its stake in the local banking sector to 51% of both assets and deposits.