Scotiabank scraps sale of Antigua, Guyana banks amid regulatory, political pushback

(Financial Post) The Bank of Nova Scotia has scrapped the sale of its holdings in two Caribbean countries and will continue to run the operations for the time being after running into regulatory and political pushback.

Scotiabank announced Friday that it had completed the sale of banking operations in seven “non-core” Caribbean markets — including Anguilla, Dominica and Grenada — to Trinidad and Tobago-based Republic Financial Holdings Ltd.

However, when the deal was first announced in November, 2018, it involved operations in nine countries.

“As a result of the decision communicated by the (Eastern Caribbean Central Bank) and the Bank of Guyana, the sale of Scotiabank’s operations in Antigua and Guyana to Republic Bank will not move forward at this time,” a Scotiabank spokesperson told the Financial Post in an email Monday.

“We will continue to operate business as usual, with a focus on serving our customers and on the best long-term solution for our employees and customers.”

Read more at: Financial Post

Source: CARICOM TODAY