Butterfield opens new headquarters
On December 10, 2007, the board of directors of Butterfield Bank met in the Cayman Islands at the press briefing to mark the opening of Butterfield Place. It was the first time they met in Cayman in 25 years, which stresses the importance of the jurisdiction among the Bank’s worldwide operations.
At the meeting, president and chief executive office of Butterfield Bank Alan Thompson noted that Cayman has played a critical part in the growth of Butterfield Bank as it accounted for about 40% of the group’s earnings. Besides Bermuda, the Cayman Islands is considered to be the most successful operation of the group.
Although the Bank has been facing increasing competition both in Bermuda and in the Cayman Islands, the Cayman operation has posted an exceptional growth considering that the economic growth of 6-7% annually – more than 15% growth per year.
According to Thompson, Butterfield bank has reached good economies of scale from its back-office operations, and this is impressive in small jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands.
Conor O’Dea, CEO of Butterfield (Cayman), said that although Cayman has been experiencing record-breaking profits year on year, the growing competition is evident, and the competitive market creates challenges for the Bank.
Thompson mentioned the entry of HSBC into the Cayman market, and explained that he was familiar with the bank previously as it had entered Bermuda 3 years ago. He agreed that HSBC is a good competitor.
The new offices at Butterfield Place will be opened to customers in 2008, which will be the banking group’s 150th anniversary and 41st year in the jurisdiction. Butterfield Bank set up operations in the Cayman Islands in 1967. Today it has some USD 3 billion in assets.