Business

Armstrong confirmed

Philip Armstrong has been confirmed as managing director of PanCaribbeanBank, the commercial banking subsidiary of Pan Caribbean Financial Services (PCFS), after close to a year acting in the position.

Armstrong, a vice-president of PCFS, was put in charge of the commercial bank after Henry Pratt, months into its start-up.

In its first full year of operations, PanCaribbeanBank's deposits rose $1.33 billion to $8.78 billion, and customer accounts grew 55 per cent under Armstrong's guidance, Pan Caribbean said.

It remains the smallest of seven commercial banks in the market, whose combined deposits reach $357 billion and assets $583 billion.

Armstrong's appointment took effect March 1.

The bank is now considering new ways to grow, including possible expansion of the branch network for 'competitive positioning'.

New gender advocate

Barbadian Dr Rosina Wiltshire has been appointed the First Caribbean Community Advocate for Gender Justice for the year 2010, the Caricom Secretariat has announced.

Wiltshire will coordinate research on gender-based violence (GBV) within the region, and lobby for action on issues identified.

"The establishment of an Office of the Special Advocate against GBV underpins the strategy to reduce the high incidence of violence against women in the Caribbean," Caricom said.

Wiltshire is an academic with more than 25 years of postgraduate teaching, research and evaluation, has published extensively in her field and has worked with the United Nations, and other groupings on gender programmes.

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