FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited (CIBC FirstCaribbean) has announced the appointment of Mark St Hill as its next Chief Executive Officer, subject to regulatory approval.
St Hill will take over on November 1, 2022, following the retirement of the bank’s current CEO, Colette Delaney.
In making the announcement, Chairman of the Board of Directors, David Ritch, noted: “We are proud to appoint the first Caribbean national to hold the position of Chief Executive Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean. With Mark taking the Chair of Chief Executive, it marks the fourth consecutive appointment of a regional person to an executive role, which reflects our focus on identifying and developing regional talent.”
St Hill brings to this position, 32 years of practical and technical experience in banking, having moved to the bank from the post of bank teller.
He recently led the execution of our bank’s digitization strategy.
“He is perfectly positioned to lead the bank at this time of transformation within the financial services industry. Like his predecessor, Colette Delaney, he is an expert in one of the key pillars of our strategy – developing relationships, whether with our customers, our employees or our suppliers,” said Ritch.
St Hill has served the bank in various positions that include insurance broking, retail banking, corporate banking, credit risk, international banking and wealth management.
He has also held senior leadership positions in several Caribbean countries such as Grenada, British Virgin Islands and Barbados. In addition, he sits on a number of the boards of the bank’s operating companies and is a trustee of the ComTrust FirstCaribbean International Foundation, the bank’s charitable foundation.
St Hill is a Fellow of the British Institute of Good Secretaries and Administrators, a graduate of the Caribbean’s First Executive Law Program with the Wharton Business School and recently completed the Master’s Certificate Program in Financial Services Leadership in association with the Schulich School of Business and CIBC. He is also the President of the Barbados Hockey Federation. Mark is married to Simone and is the proud father of three children.
In other news, the bank announced that its subsidiary, FirstCaribbean International Bank (Barbados) Limited will cease operations in Dominica on January 31, 2023. It will begin contacting its customers in Dominica within the next few days to advise of the timelines time frame for its withdrawal from Dominica and what customers should do before the closing date.
St Hill’s appointment comes as the bank prepares to say goodbye to its CEO of the past four years, Colette Delaney, who took up the role on 1 November 2018.
See also
Colette Delaney assumed the role as CEO on November 1, 2018.
Delaney joined CIBC FirstCaribbean in 2013, and among other roles, she has served as the bank’s Chief Risk Officer and Chief Administrative Officer. She was appointed Chief Operating Officer on December 8, 2017 and is a board member of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank. She also served as Chair of the bank’s charity, the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation.
“The appointment of Colette as Chief Executive Officer, the first woman to be appointed to this role, was a landmark in the bank’s history. She brought to her tenure as CEO the steady hand the bank needed over the past two years as we struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our region. Her ability to reassure employees and customers of the bank’s stability and support helped assuage the concerns of various stakeholders during a testing period, Ritch said.
CIBC FirstCaribbean also announced the retirement of Dan Wright, Managing Director of Wealth Management, effective February 28, 2023. Wright joined CIBC FirstCaribbean in December 2012, as Director of Private Wealth Management.
Pim van der Burg, FCIB’s Managing Director, Corporate and Investment Banking, will assume responsibility for the Wealth portfolio effective September 5, 2022. The two executives will work together on transition activities until Wright’s retirement .
