CIBC FirstCaribbean has announced its intention to relocate its San Pedro Branch operations
to Orange Walk Town.

To facilitate this move our San Pedro branch will close permanently to the public on June 15, 2012.
In an official statement, Country Head, Glen Smith indicated that the current economic climate had necessitated a thorough review of the bank’s operations, resulting in strategic decision to relocate to the Orange Walk District.

“We remain committed to our clients in San Pedro and we encourage them to continue to bank with us through a number of options, including our Visa Debit Card products; Internet and Telephone Banking; and by mailing in Cheque Deposits. We are also exploring additional options for providing banking services to our clients in the area that will be advised to our clients as they are finalized.”

He added that the new Orange Walk facility will provide CIBC FirstCaribbean with excellent opportunities for improving customer service while continuing to play its role as responsible corporate citizen in a new community.

About CIBC FirstCaribbean

CIBC FirstCaribbean is the largest, regionally-listed bank in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean serving over 500,000 accounts in 17 markets, through 3,400 staff, across 100 branches and offices. The bank offers a full range of market-leading financial services in: Corporate and Investment Banking, Treasury Sales and Trading, Retail Banking, Wealth Management, Small Business and Credit Cards.

CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC (TSX, NYSE: CM) is a leading North American financial institution serving clients in Canada and around the world. Through its distinct business lines, CIBC Retail Markets and Wholesale Banking, CIBC provides a full range of products and services to almost 11 million individual, small business and commercial banking clients and meets the financial needs of corporate and institutional clients. CIBC is rated A+/Stable/A-1 by Standard & Poor’s.

For more information about CIBC FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com

Does this seem like a strange move to anyone other than me?

Orange Walk is almost a city so probably a fair amount of business there.

I understand that, but are there as many residents in that city that would choose the kinds of services that CIBC is offering? Also, as a Canadian, I was thinking of the highest density of Canadians living in Belize, as a factor. But having said that, I don't really know the demographics. Thanks for your reply.

Of course there is a lot of competition here in the banking industry - Scotia Bank, BCB and Atlantic Bank International all offer the same services.

Thanks for posting this my friend banks with them and do not think he was aware of the upcoming changes so I was able to let him know.

This is closing a branch, not "relocating" - and the right thing to do would be to send a notice to their customers.

Man thats a drag and doubly so because I think that one of the recent visitors to the board, looking for a friendly local bank to open an account, ended up at 1st...