Effective 1st June 2013, Mr. Daniel Farmer will assume the role of Managing Director,
Corporate Lending and Investment Banking, replacing Mr. Ian Chinapoo, who has taken up
another senior position outside of CIBC FirstCaribbean in his native Trinidad; Mr. Mark St.
Hill will assume the role of Managing Director, Retail and Business Banking; and Ms. Donna
Wellington will assume the role of Managing Director, Barbados.
Daniel Farmer started his career in Barbados with Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited
(Citigroup), managing the corporate bank in Barbados. He was later promoted to Corporate
Bank Head for the non branch territories in the Caribbean (Barbados, Eastern Caribbean,
Guyana, Suriname and Belize).
He joined the Simpson Group of Companies in 2006 as the group’s Vice President of
Treasury and overall Group director. During his tenure, he oversaw three large successful
acquisitions, which lead to the formation of the SOL group. He was also responsible for the
centralization of treasury management function. Mr. Farmer joined CIBC FirstCaribbean
International Bank in February 2010 as Managing Director for the Barbados Operating
Company.
Mark St. Hill was appointed Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s Barbados business
in September of 2012. Previous to that he was the Director, International Banking
with responsibility for the leadership and development of the International Banking
(Personal & Corporate) offering across the six centers in Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin
Islands, Cayman, Curacao and Turks and Caicos Islands.
An experienced banker with over 20 years in various positions spanning Insurance Broking,
Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Credit Risk, International Banking and Wealth
Management, Mark has also held senior management positions in several countries in the
Caribbean such as Grenada, British Virgin Islands and Barbados.
Donna Wellington joined CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank in 2005, after working for
Sagicor, Ernst & Young Caribbean and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Barbados. At CIBC
FirstCaribbean she has progressed through various positions in the corporate finance and
investment banking segments, culminating in her current position as the Head of the
Corporate Credit Recoveries group based in the Bahamas. Donna is considered a specialist
in the hospitality and real estate sector, advising clients on various transactions in these
areas and a regular speaker on these topics. She has had responsibility for revenue
generation, relationship and pipeline management and the execution and closure on some
of the regions more complex corporate deals.
CIBC FirstCaribbean has also announced the creation of a new unit in the bank, to
accelerate its progress on initiatives to strengthen its control environment. The new
Governance and Controls Unit will be led by Donna Graham, who has been appointed
Managing Director Governance and Controls. Mrs. Graham most recently performed role of
Chief Auditor. Mrs. Patricia Rowe-Seale has in turn been appointed Acting Chief Auditor.
Mrs. Graham has had successful careers in both the private and public sectors in Canada.
She worked as a Management Consultant from 1999-2002 at the Canadian firm of McKinsey
& Company where she developed business strategies for a number of Fortune 500
Companies across multiple sectors, including Financial Services.
She joined CIBC FirstCaribbean’s parent company in 2002 to develop an internal Strategic
Consulting group for the Retail Bank. In that role she served clients across all the retail
businesses and assisted them with strategic challenges ranging from product development
to distribution, organizational design and cost cutting initiatives.
In making the announcements, Chief Executive Officer, Rik Parkhill, noted: ” He added:
“The Senior Executive Team members and I continue to be encouraged by the commitment
– both in words of support and readiness to work hard to achieve the goals we have set for
ourselves. I feel confident that our newly re-assigned executive will continue to receive the
full support of our team across the region. We look forward to delivering our business
strategy of providing excellent customer service, making a difference in our communities
and returning our company to historical levels of profitability.”