Scotiabank Guyana To Be Sold, But Regulator In The Dark

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (Tuesday, March 9, 2021) — The Bank of Guyana (BOG), which regulates local financial institutions, has advised that Trinidad’s First Citizens Bank has not applied for a banking licence in Guyana, although it has agreed to buy Scotiabank’s operations there.

“FCB does not have a licence to operate in Guyana. FCB has not submitted an application,” the Bank of Guyana said in a statement.

The Central Bank noted that an application must be made, in keeping with the requirements of the Financial Institutions Act 1995 (FIA), to the Bank of Guyana, to acquire control of a bank (in this case the Bank of Nova Scotia) operating in Guyana.

The Bank of Guyana further said that the Bank of Nova Scotia entered into a purchase and sale agreement, “without informing” the Central Bank.

FCB had filed the required notice with the TTSE, and published in the Trinidad Guardian, its decision to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) to purchase its operations in Guyana.

The Central Bank of Guyana had previously blocked the sale of Scotiabank to another Trinidad and Tobago bank, Republic Bank Limited, in September 2019.