CIBC Caribbean is a financial services company based in Barbados and the Caribbean subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The bank was founded in 2002 as FirstCaribbean International Bank through the merger of the Caribbean operations of Barclays Bank and CIBC, and in March 2006 both CIBC and Barclays announced that Barclays wished to exercise their option to exit the Caribbean venture completely resulting in CIBC gaining majority-control of the bank. In June 2011, it was announced the bank would be renamed CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank "to be more closely aligned to the CIBC brand, while still maintaining the FirstCaribbean name and local identity."[2] The name was then later changed CIBC Caribbean in January 2024.[3] The majority of the bank's revenues are generated by its operations in Barbados, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
History
Prior to 2002, the operations of what is now CIBC Caribbean were run as the separate businesses of Barclays Bank and CIBC West Indies, part of CIBC's group of companies. Barclays had been active in the region since 1836 and CIBC's foray into the region began with branches in Jamaica in 1920.