Petition started to keep CNB Caymanian
Cayman National
(CNS): The announcement this week that a regional bank has made an unsolicited potential offer to buy up a ruling share of Cayman National Bank has spawned a local backlash, with people taking to social media to voice their concerns. A petition has now been started to urge the bank not to sell. More than 70 commenters on CNS were quick to express their opinions on the announcement and many of them appeared to feel strongly about retaining local control of the bank, which has been operating here for well over 40 years.
The petition calls on the majority shareholders, board of directors and management not to accept the offer from the parent company of the Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago, which is based in Barbados. The petitioners threaten that customers will move their assets as a means of protest if the sale goes ahead.
The offer was described as being in the “embryonic stage” by the potential buyers, who have suggested that shareholders could see an increase of more than three dollars on the current share price. The decision, however, will be in the hands of shareholders. Once a formal offer has been made, they will meet and vote on whether or not to accept it once all of the regulatory and other requirements are met.
But even if the offer becomes a reality, there is no certainty that, regardless of any increase in the value of shares, the shareholders will all agree. CNS understands that the majority of the shareholders are Caymanian and they may feel as strongly as its customers about retaining the institution in local hands.
CNS reached out to the bank’s president, Stuart Dack, who told us that he was, under the law and rules of the stock market, very limited in the things he could say about the potential offer. He pointed out that no firm offer has been made and the process was in the very early stages. Dack urged people to read the full announcement made earlier this week and posted on the CNB website.
Category: Banking & money, Business
Lets see – CNB decides to sell out for a premium and I get around $3.00 extra per share!
Ye$, yes$ and ye$ –
Signed,
Smiling all the way to Republic Bank with double my money
How braindead would you have to be not sign it on such an important development? But then again only a true Caymanian would understand the concerns here.
“How braindead would you have to be not sign it on such an important development?”
LOL
What are your concerns?
How backwards do you have to be to sign this petition?
Why bank with CNB when they’re much better banks to do business with?
Ask these petition Drama Queens if they have bought any shares in this bank that they are so in love with? Hardly if any. What is the drama petition about? Ownership resides in the shareholders! Get a grip children! Reminds me of the sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines. Poor people want to fight and attack people from the purchasing country. I felt so ashamed of how really small minded our people in the Caribbean Islands are; they will destroy each other at the drop of a hat. I’m happy that if the sale goes through the ownership will remain in the Caribbean.
I presume most shareholders in CNC (whether Caymanian or not) will make their decision based on financial considerations, rather than emotional ones. For instance, if the buyout goes ahead they will double their money (based on today’s prices, maybe more than double or less than double depending on when they bought) BUT where will they get a relatively safe 4% return? Which is what the current CNC dividend is paying them. Unless they get Republic shares in return for selling, instead of cash, which pay a comparable dividend. But is it as safe?
I believe the large CNC shareholders are all represented in some way on the CNC board. So, if the board approves of the sale, its pretty much a done deal and the shareholder vote will merely be a formality.
Final thought: why do we have to be small minded? Think big! Maybe CNC should buy Republic? Republic is a bigger bank but crazier things have happened…..
You can get a US Treasury yield of 3.5% so for the risk of investing in CNC you get less than half a percent extra yield. That my friend is not a good nor safe return. Remember what happened post Ivan!
If you can double your money today, worrying about where you may find a 4% return on your money is secondary. You have just made a 100% return which would have taken you 25 years.
anonymous 13/08/2012 3.29 pm good analysis.
If the buyout goes ahead, this will make CNC a really competitive financial institution, and the bank of choice in Cayman able to lend large corporate loans and provide service that the others now can not do.
Ask yourself why there’s only one “Caymanian” bank. Raise a few million and start one of your own. It’s not that hard. Where are all the Caymanian bankers after all these years?
Well there’s Caledonian. Oh.
Ask HSBC how hard it is to compete as a retail bank in Cayman.
People haven’t seemed to learn yet that if the right people want something to happen, it’ll happen.
For what its worth, you all should speak to staff working in Republic Bank in Barbados. See how they treat their staff. I am not speaking about expecting people to do their jobs and do it well or good customer service. Many persons employed by CNB now would certainly quit. Not because they are afraid of hard work as I am a CNB customer since 1985 and their customer service is second to none. However, Republic Bank does not have a good reputation for taking care of its staff.
I have a friend that works there. Yes, they could care less about their staff.
If they could care less, they must at least care a little? Perhaps you mean they couldn’t care less.
Huh?
petition season in cayman!. laughable…… and folks wonder why caymanians are not taken seriously
Lol how miserable do you have to be to come on here every day trying to start class warfare?
They started it with the stupid petitions.
Not sure I understand the love for CNC after they dragged our name through the mud a couple of years ago.
So helping US clients evade tax is good for Cayman is it?
I understand the affinity held for Cayman national bank but unless we can find a few wealthy Caymanians who will go to the stock exchange and buy up all the shares I am afraid this petition will not change anything. That is not what petitions are for. Instead start one to stop the crazy idea for the north sound.
It may not be what petitions are for however it is a way of letting the Bank and it’s shareholders know the positions of their customers who would leave under the circumstances of a sale.
For where? All the banks here suck.
Credit Union
Never heard of it
CNB/CNC may have been started by Caymanian but let us not fool ourselves it is not majority Caymanian own. Has been that way for a long time. Surprise surprise
One Voice It was set up by an Englishman Peter Tompkins who worked previously in the Bahamas.
The bank was not set up by Mr. Tompkins. A group of Caymanians and non- Caymanians got together and put their monies together, becoming the shareholders and they hired Mr. Tompkins to manage the bank. I really don’t even understand why this caymanian/ expat thing is important anyway. It’s called business, maybe the shareholders will make a huge profit if they decide to sell out. It is their prerogative anyway.
7.27pm What a load of garbage. Peter Tompkins came here to specifically set up a bank and did it himself. I should know as my wife who worked with him in the Bahamas typed up most of the documentation including the Memorandum and Articles of Association at his direction.I suspect you must be “all ears” again, it’s time you realise what is important is the truth, not self glorifying dreams.
CNB is more than just another bank. I would encourage all stake holders including the Government, fellow CNB shareholders and Management to think strategic and long term. As for fellow Caymanian shareholders this is one of the dwindling opportunities to put our money where our mouths are. Let’s not be dazzled by the money dangled in front of us, like how we did not realise the true economic value of our land until after we sold it. Let’s keep CNB Caymanian!
Let DART buy it to keep it Caymanian!
If an acquirer is willing to pay an 100% acquisition premium on another company’s share price – there must be some calculated factors behind such a decision. Acquisition synergies and higher forecasted cash flows may be a driving force in such an offer. The thought of doubling your investment is the reason why any smart investor invests in the first place, but it may be time for CNB to start crunching numbers to re-evaluate itself and to take a better look at what money is being left on the table if another company is willing to pay such a premium.
Let’s face it, having a bank in one of the largest financial centers in the world, a place that has a great credit rating, is going to be a major attraction over having a bank in essentially a third world island. I would not be surprised if they made Cayman the head office for that reason alone.
Which third world Island are you referring to, pray tell?
Hah! Good try…despite many failings (as with any place one might live), Cayman is still a damn good place to live and work, with brilliant infrastructure and finances…you will struggle to find another Caribbean island like it.
LMAO what a bunch of losers! Here’s an idea… Buy it if you want to keep it Caymanian.
To all those who denigrate expatriates, CNB would not exist if it was not for the one who set it up.
I’m sorry, which expatriate set up CNB? Please refresh my memory. I know my grandfather along with many others decided not to invest in it, and those few who did made a fortune, but as far as I am aware, those few already had the means and knowledge to set the bank up and they did so without help. Please, tell me which benevolent foreigner gifted us with CAYMAN National Bank and how those few Caymanians who originally subscribed to the company got their shares. I’m all ears.
Peter Tomkins
As I read his biography, he couldn’t have started the bank without the investment of wealthy Caymanians. So tell me again how he gave it to us…I’m still waiting…
9.41pm. You must be the all ears and nothing in between again.He had to have local investors to get a banking licence,are you also ignorant of the law?. He could easily have funded the bank from his expatriate banking connections.These people put in money but nothing else as they certainly did not have banking expertise, it’s an easy way for Caymanians to make money – let someone else do all the work and just collect the dividends.
The bank was founded before the Caymanian Protection Law was enacted, no requirement for local investment at the time. Tell me again, I have been waiting all weekend now.
So Tomkins did all the work and the capital owning families cashed in. A true tale of hard working paying off….
Indeed – it takes a lot of work to acquire capital and it took a lot of very hard work to have capital around here in the late 1960s.
No he did not!!!! He was the the person hired to run the bank because of his knowledge and experience. That’s why wars are started – because of ignorance!
3.08pm all ears and nothing in between. It was set up by an English banker who relocated from the Bahamas named Peter Tompkins and he needed of course to appoint local directors, but they had nothing to do with the incorporation, the expertise was provided by Peter.Check with CNB who will educate you on their origin as you clearly need it.
As I recall it Peter Tomkins previously working for Washington Bank later well managed by the late Nick Duggan who had the foresight to seek a larger bank to merge with, none other than Butterfield Bank.
Later Peter was awarded an MBE for services to the banking industry. Nick in turn later became a driving force in the Chamber of Commerce and was an integral part of the Bankers Association. In my opinion he was the finest banker these islands have ever been blessed with and his efforts in those sometimes difficult days were also worthy of an MBE.
Peter A, Tomkins was the expatriate that founded Cayman National Corporation. It was his brainchild and he invited a group of mostly Caymanian business to invest in his business plan. He prided himself in building a Caymanian company that has employed mostly Caymanians over the past 30+ years. My his sole Rest In Peace.
If you want to keep Cayman National Corporation local then all you have to do is go to the Cayman Stock Exchange and buy the shares yourself.
CNC has approximately 42.35 million shares that were trading for $3 per share before the announcement, which set its value at less than $130 million. We don’t know how many of those 42 million shares are currently owned by non-Caymanians, so theoretically CNC could right now be a majority “foreign-owned” entity.
To put the CNC $130M valuation in perspective, this week there was an announcement of a new condo development on 7MB valued at $177M, and there is an advert on eCay with a quarry for sale at $85M. As they say, please consult a financial advisor before investing in CNC or any other business.
Since the announcement, CNC shares have gone from $3.00 to $3.20 on relatively small volume, which would lead me to believe that the offer of $6.00 to $6.75 per share is not something that is being taken seriously. We can only hope that this offer wasn’t orchestrated in an attempt to drive up the share price so someone could dump their shares. If that was the case, it looks like they haven’t had much success thus far.
Pathetic. These Petitioners need to grow up. This is the mindset of those that thought the little stretch of West Bay Road was of “cultural significance”.
It was, and I really do miss driving along that road past the beach. I remember the feeling I had as a kid getting out of the car at the old parking lot ready to spend the day sipping lemonade from my sippy cup and building castles and looking for interesting rocks in the water with my mask on and seeing dozens of other happy families doing the same along with a few tourists all in balanced harmony. I miss that, and I don’t know who didn’t take you to the beach, but I think your comment is better directed at them.
We were sold a lie that in exchange for the road, he would make the beach better, and it’s now littered with vendors and cruise shippers, the extra sand he brought in does not match in colour, the cabanas have not been upgraded in any way, we had to provide disabled access ourselves, and he terminated Calico Jack’s lease so you won’t be able to get a drink there anymore either unless you’re willing to walk further and pay Kimpton prices for it. Which brings to mind the many New Years’ I have rung in on that beach with Calico’s nearby for music and refreshments or even a full blown party if you wanted to pay for entry and have both options. All gone. You cheer for that. What kind of person does that make you?
He ruined the beach by changing it from somewhere people felt belonged to them and represented the freedom and open possibilities of living on an island to somewhere we should just be happy we were allowed to keep by ‘the man’. The clue was in the name: “Public Beach”. Just by touching the beach he ruined it, and unlike with the mangroves we did not willingly sacrifice either, he did not put anything that is better overall in its place.
Your lack of empathy for the emotional ties Caymanians have with this little piece of rock they had the fortune and misfortune of being born or raised on and everything about it, speaks much more about you than it does about those Caymanians. They’re expressing feelings of pride and sadness; you are expressing contempt and disdain.
Since you seem to need educating, Cayman National Bank was founded for the express purpose of there being a bank by Caymanians, for Caymanians, after decades of there only being Canadian and English banks here. Read the plaque in the entryway if you have never been in the headquarters on Elgin Avenue and learn something about where you live. People who do not own shares want to appeal to the consciences of those who do, not to ‘join em if you can’t beat em’ but stay on the team.
Perhaps we should go and buy up your town’s main/high street and tear down the 16th century church and put up jerk stands and see how you like it. But we can’t. We’re a small people of limited means who can’t go around colonising whether politically, militarily or economically, and this is where people like you show your prejudice most of all: you like that fact. As the poster on another article said, “we win”. We being anyone other than Caymanians. Doesn’t take much to bring foreigners together these days around here – all you need is a rich or powerful foreign interest to upset enough Caymanians and you’ll all get in a big group and tell us how “pathetic” we are for loving our home, especially the parts of it we did without anyone’s help, and CNB is one such institution. No one had to tell us how to do it: we did it.
I think your attitude and lack of empathy is pathetic, and I am sure I am not the only one.
So a 16th century church is equivalent to that old bit of West Bay Road? Don’t you understand why foreigners laugh at you and your so called culture and heritage? A bit of road? Seriously?
That’s a straw man and you know it. I never said they were equal in and of themselves. If we had any 16th century churches we wouldn’t give them up for roads. And if we had endless roads without any beaches or beachfront hotels we’d gladly give up some road to get a beachfront hotel. But we have lots of beach, we have lots of beachfront hotels, and we HAD lots of beachfront road. That was the last spot you could see the beach from the road. Making it equal in value to us as the (likely last of its century/kind/listed building) church. And I’d be willing to bet you wouldn’t give up your church for some road! Don’t you see why Caymanians don’t want your values to be the deciding factors in decisions made here? They’re different. Let me change my question better to make my point: 16th century church or one more pub, but a really, really good pub! Oh and we’ll build you a new church out of the goodness of our hearts, forgot that bit.
Melodramatic nostalgia at its worst. And the Kimpton is super.
The Kimpton is over-rated.
Sorry, just calling a spade a spade.
Not worth money for value….might as well take your money to the Westin or the Marriott. Better value for your dollar and even better beach as well!!!!
It is not over rated, it is accurately rated as okay and not worth the land it is on or concessions we gave to get it built. The restaurants weren’t even any good. It always was about DART dipping its toes in the hotel industry and maximising value of the land it bought.
The Westin and the Marriott have too many fly-over Under Armour bedecked fly-over staters eating sweet food. No class. The prices at the Kimpton mean a far better class of clientele.
You have a peculiar list of dislikes there. Fly-over staters, I’ll give you that; Under Armour, sure, especially when they wear it in the water; but they’re eating sweet food at the same time too? Both hotels – that’s their clientele, entirely? Are we talking sweet appetisers, main courses, or do you just not like dessert (I don’t care for it much either)? I mean, I agree with you, but I also find your statement unashamedly elitist and snobby. Go where your money can take you my choosy friend…just keep it to yourself…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cayman-national-taxevasion-idUSKCN0WB2QW
I suppose that might all be considered “culture” if you were brought up in a cultural vacuum.
Truth right here. Truth over fame and one cannot expect selfless beings to overstand this. Simple.
….it was…”west bay road”. Its older than your life!
When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
Cree Prophecy
A tad melodramatic for a business buyout proposal.
If melodrama was an Olympic sport Cayman would send a great team.
What were Trump and Brexit again if not melodrama over immigration, which if you study it you learn has been the story of our species and driving force behind its success…why fuss over it unless it creates unfair competition (in the US and UK it does over low-paid jobs and in Cayman it does over high-paid jobs)
When the most crap bank is bought out by a bigger bank, there will be fewer crap banks. And then one day the crap banks will be all gone.
Meee Prophecy.
Foreigners soon get what they looking…click clack