Tuesday, September 15, 2009

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Butterfield Bank terminates half a dozen workers By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ inderia@nasguard.com: The head of Butterfield Bank's Bahamas division is confirming it last week terminated six employees — the result of restructuring efforts to fit difficult market conditions. The eliminations were conducted on August 27, said Robert Lotmore, Managing Director, Butterfield Bank (Bahamas) Limited, adding that the bank offered the former employees support in securing alternative employment. "The bank has made this difficult decision in order to reduce operating expenses," he said in a statement sent to Guardian Business. "We did not take the decision to eliminate positions in Nassau lightly, but given the current economic circumstances, I believe it was a necessary and responsible action." The Bank now has 53 employees at it's Nassau division. His comments follow recent concerns of increasing layoffs within the nation's offshore sector, with experts pointing to banks being challenged to deliver profitability and performance to shareholders and investors in a tight economy. It's a move spurring them to resort to slashing human resources costs and terminating staff, adding to the country's unemployment rate which currently hovers at 14 percent. Globally all businesses, particularly those in North America, have been reporting earnings primarily because they have been able to maintain or sharply cut operating costs, top financial advisor Ken Kerr told Guardian Business earlier. He doesn't expect the beginning of an end to those sorts of measures to come for another three to six months yet. That's based on projections about the turnaround in the U.S. economy, which will extend to the nation's offshore sector given a significant portion of its high net-worth clientele stem from that destination. Butterfield maintains, however, the staff levels remain appropriate for the management of the bank. "I want to assure our clients that the right-sizing of our operations in Nassau to suit the current economic and market environment will have no detrimental impact on customer service," added the statement. "Butterfield is committed to The Bahamas and to continuing to offer leading private banking and trust services in this jurisdiction." It's the second time in as many months that Butterfield has made headlines, with Lottmore last month moving to distinguish his firm from the Butterfield Fulcrum Group (BFG) which recently slashed its staff levels, asserting those terminations came after employees at a Butterfield Bank subsidiary switched over to BFG. "The employees impacted were employees of Butterfield Fund Services - a subsidiary of the bank - prior to January 2009, at which time they became employees of BFG," he said then. "The bank's operations in The Bahamas are not affected by the actions being taken by the BFG." Butterfield offers private banking, personal trust and corporate trust services from offices at Montague Sterling Centre, East Bay Street. Monday, August 31, 2009