In the Caribbean, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has been in the news recently for its decision to sell its operations in Jamaica to Sagicor Jamaica for US$84 million and for its retrenchment, relocation and reorganisation of workers in T&T for more than one year.
RBC has also been in the news because of its separation of staff in T&T. It has even been speculated that RBC is about to sell its T&T branch operations to HSBC, the huge British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London.
Who is RBC?
It is Canada's largest and most profitable bank.
The bank's total assets in 2013 amounted to C$860.81 billion, its net income in 2013 was C$8.42 billion, which was earned from total revenue of C$30.86 billion. Its 2013 net income number represented a 31 per cent increase over its profits of C$6.44 billion in 2011.
It is clear, though, that RBC's US$2.2 billion acquisition of RBTT Financial Holdings in 2008, was in trouble almost from the start. RBC paid shareholders of RBTT $40 a share, with 60 per cent of the consideration in cash, while the balance was in RBC ordinary shares.
The offer, which was made public in October 2007, represented an 18 per cent premium to RBTT's closing price on September 28.
According to the information memorandum issued to RBTT shareholders in preparation for the March 26, 2008, meeting at the Hilton: "The directors have determined that the amalgamation is fair to RBTT shareholders and in the best interests of all RBTT stakeholders." And the offer did turn out to be in the best interest of shareholders. On June 16, 2008, RBC put out a statement announcing that it had acquired the RBTT Financial Group with its presence in 18 countries and territories across the region, with a presence in 18 countries and territories across the region, with 7,000 employees serving more than 1.6 million clients in 130 branches with more than US$13.7 billion in assets.