NCB Financial Group Limited’s Leadership Transition Involves a 13.8 Billion Payment, according to Media Statement by Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen
In light of the recent leadership changes within NCB Financial Group Limited (NCBFG), a media statement released by Patrick Hylton, the outgoing President, and Group Chief Executive Officer, and Dennis Cohen, his deputy, acknowledges a significant payment of 13.8 billion related to their “surrender and return to the company.” This payment marks a notable development in the ongoing transition of leadership at NCBFG.
Read the release below:
Ladies and gentlemen we have noted certain comments in the media and wish to make some clarifying comments. In addition, we have been receiving numerous calls and queries from members of the media. Our first inclination was to ignore these comments but we are being deluged with messages and phone calls from family members, concerned persons internal to NCB, in our local society, and from persons overseas. As you will appreciate we are professionals who have carefully built our careers and our reputation over decades of service in the sector in general and at NCB in particular. We have established a stellar record of performance over those years which speaks for itself. We cannot sit quietly by and allow our integrity to be impugned by speculation and a misinterpretation of the facts and circumstances.
Firstly, we have done nothing wrong where our compensation is concerned. All we have done is accepted payments as approved by the board consequent on our surrender and return to the company of some $13.8 billion of shares which we then owned free and clear in July 2021. The appropriate stock exchange releases were made at the time and it was indicated that the company would be compensating us over time for this act of surrender and return of the shares.
Earlier this year we were asked to consider amendments to our compensation which would reduce the quantum and we made certain proposals in that regard. We were asked to take a look again which we did and we recently presented another set of proposals to result in a deferral of a significant portion of our compensation. The board requested that we look at further adjustments which would hit a particular target. We did so and I verbally shared these proposals with Professor Alvin Wint when he was acting as Chairman. We were scheduled to discuss them with him on Monday morning.
A special board meeting was held on Sunday and we were subsequently informed by Chairman Lee-Chin that the board had taken a decision to ask us to go on leave while certain discussions regarding a negotiated separation take place. We agreed to proceed in this manner.
Like so many other persons we have families including siblings, children, friends, and professional colleagues. The feedback some of our families and friends have been getting from some of these news reports has caused them undue concern and distress. We do not believe this is fair to us or to them in all the circumstances.
