Who are these guys and why does NCB owe them almost $14 billion?

Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen have been all over the news this past week following news of their impending departure as the CEO and Deputy CEO of NCB. 

One of the hottest topics of discussion is the $13.8 billion reportedly owed to them, in addition to a separation package that’s likely to be massive! 

In the last financial year, Hylton and Cohen earned a combined $3.6 billion in salary and benefits.  That’s over US$23 million!  So imagine what their severance is gonna be!

That’s already a lot of money – but let’s talk about the other shocking number – J$13.8 billion!  That’s almost US$90 million! Why does NCB have to pay them so much?

See what had happened was… Hylton and Cohen own millions of shares in NCB.  The shares were given to them as part of their compensation, which was tied to the performance of NCB Financial Group during, 

But back in 2021, they were asked to give up 95 million of those shares as part of a change in their compensation package. 

Today those shares are worth nearly $14 billion. Hylton and Cohen were supposed to be repaid over time, but now that they’re on their way out, the men are saying ‘gimmie back me money’.

Now to understand why they received such a large compensation, you’d have to understand who Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen are, and what they’ve done for NCB.  Remember I said their compensation was tied to the company’s performance.

So Patrick Hylton is a veteran in Jamaica’s finance sector. He was the Managing Director of the Financial Sector Adjustment Company, FINSAC back in the nineties.  He joined NCB in 2003 shortly after Michael Lee-Chin took over.

Actually, it was Hylton, while he was still at FINSAC, who reportedly convinced Lee-Chin to buy the Government’s stake in NCB. Lee-Chin even reportedly once said that Hylton should be knighted for convincing him to buy NCB.  It should be noted that at that time, Jamaica’s entire financial sector was in shambles, and NCB was a failing company.

Anyway, Hylton has been NBC’s CEO ever since. It’s a similar case with Dennis Cohen.  He’s been with NCB for 19 years and serves as Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer. 

And just to be clear, they are the head of the overall NCB Financial Group, which includes NCB, Guardian Group and Clarien Group.  Whenever we say NCB people normally just think of the bank, but the overall group includes more than just the bank.  So when I say NCB in this video, I’m referring to the entire group.

Anyway, Hylton and Cohen have pretty much been captains of the ship for a very long time and many say their leadership is what brought NCB to where it is now.  Last year, NCB brought in $40 billion in profits. Not revenue – PROFITS!  That’s US$259 million! 

So their leadership has turned this company around from failing to one of Jamaica’s biggest and most profitable companies in the course of twenty years.  And as an incentive for doing well, they’ve been paid very very handsomely in cash and kind.

And that’s why it’s gonna cost NCB billions to get rid of them.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer recently, Hylton said that he has no hard feelings.  He added that it’s rare to see one person in a CEO position at a publicly listed company for that long anyway. 

He said it’s the nature of business…basically, it’s the way the game is played. And that’s a point one of our analysts hit on Taking Stock recently. CEO of Profit Jumpstarter, Keisha Bailey said people shouldn’t look too much into the fact that both men were sent on leave while the negotiations take place. That’s the way it’s normally done with such high-ranking executives in a company.

In the meantime, NCB has named one of its Directors, Robert Almeida as the interim Group CEO and Malcolm Sadler as interim Group CFO. Former Scotiabank Jamaica boss Bruce Bowen was also named as a special advisor.

So, we’ll have to wait and see how the negotiations turn out and if the men will get the full 13-point eight billion back.  And if they do, it may well be one of the biggest payouts ever in Jamaica’s corporate history.