The changes keep coming at NCB! Four more senior managers have resigned, but is this just the beginning?

When Michael Lee-Chin said he was taking a more hands-on approach at NCB, he wasn’t kidding! 

You may remember back in June, when Lee-Chin cut his sabbatical short and said he was gonna become more involved in the day-to-day operations at NCB. He said one of his goals was to increase customer satisfaction, which many say has been lacking at the bank recently.

Cue this latest round of “de-layering”. 

NCB announced last week that Septimus Blake stepped down as CEO of NCB Jamaica, effective September 30.  Former Scotiabank Jamaica CEO, Bruce Bowen, is taking his place temporarily.

The next day, Bowen announced that four more senior managers would be leaving. 

Gabrielle Banbury-Kelly, who was vice-president of group transformation; Steven Gooden, former CEO of NCB Capital Markets; Vernon James, former CEO of The Future of Business, which operates Lynk; and Nadeen Matthews Blair, former VP for group marketing, communications, analytics, and digital, and CEO of the NCB Foundation. 

So NCB is really trying to shake things up by bringing in new faces to these positions. Now if there is any bad blood between the company and the most recent executives to leave, they’re not showing it publicly.  During the press conference, Septimus Blake said he thought it was the right time for him to step aside and give the Lee-Chin room to totally reset the company.  He insisted there were no hard feelings since he’s been at the bank for twenty one years.  He and the others all technically resigned and weren’t fired. 

Meanwhile, Lee-Chin said he considered everyone who’s leaving part of the NCB alumni. So, maybe that means the door is open for them to come back in a different role, or maybe at Lee Chin’s other businesses.  

Maybe a new set of faces at the top is what the company needs right now. The stock’s price is down 14% since the start of the year.  Let’s see how shareholders react to the news.

And that’s the bottom line.