The Tribune

RBC Royal Bank hosted a forum in Nassau for directors of RBC’s legal entities in the northern Caribbean.

Ten RBC directors and 15 RBC business leaders were joined by banking regulators in a half-day session on corporate governance topics.

“Corporate governance remains one of the most pressing issues facing financial institutions today,” said Harriet Thornhill, RBC regional president of personal banking. “It is critical for us to regularly convene, share ideas and become better informed about the environment in which we operate.”

Presenters at the forum included RBC regional heads Suresh Sookoo, chief executive officer; Michael Detje, chief financial officer; and Bis Mukerji, chief risk officer.

Also invited to attend were Wendy Craigg, governor of the Central Bank of the Bahamas; Kevin Higgins, managing director of the Financial Services Commission for the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cindy Scotland, managing director of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

During the session, participants focused on RBC’s governance principles and discussed the various measures in place to enhance governance controls.

The session was timely in light of the robust regulatory environment in which RBC operates and reaffirmed RBC’s commitment to positioning the organisation as a best practice enterprise in corporate governance, the bank said.

“RBC reputation as one of the leading corporate governance practitioners in the world is one that has been built up through the years to become premium brand equity,” said Mr Sookoo. “We remain committed to working with regulators to ensure that the highest standards of corporate governance are adhered to within our organisation.”

RBC has six major legal entities that operate in the northern Caribbean – RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas) Limited, Finance Corporation of Bahamas Limited (FINCO), Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (Bahamas) Limited, RBC Dominion Securities Global Limited, Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (Cayman) Limited and RBC Royal Bank (Cayman) Limited – each of which has an independent board of directors.

In November 2011, RBC was recognised as having the Best Overall Corporate Governance in the International category at the Annual Corporate Governance Awards held in New York.

“We consider it important to share governance information with all of our directors and in-market leadership across the Caribbean,” said Nicole Richards, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, RBC Financial (Caribbean) Limited.

“This Forum gave us the opportunity to emphasise the key elements necessary for the maintenance of an engaged and effective board, including strict adherence to audit, risk management and compliance practices.”