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On January 28, 2025, Our Today published an article entitled “Vasily | Hope is not a strategy: What JN Group’s leadership won’t tell its 1.3 million members”. Below is the response.

The AGM Held January 27, 2026

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was for the reporting on the past financial year. The meeting is usually held within six months of the end of the financial year. The recent AGM was held 10 months after theend of the financial year; and, therefore, the meeting was to review theperformance as at March 2025 and not designed to report on the present or future. 

Another AGM is expected within eight months to provide a further update. A significant portion of the losses stated are attributable to fair value losses on GOJ global bonds and to losses on the investment in the UK. ( Note 10 of the audited financial statement, which refers to the $4.6 billion of the $ 5 billion of impairment losses for the year). This is what went wrong.

Bringing down Costs

The cost-to-income ratio was affected by various professional fee expenses paid to attorneys and other professionals in support of the UK exit plan. These expenses are included in the cost-to-income ratio for the Group. To cover these costs, the JN Group had to incur additional debt ( Note 25 (iv) of the audited financial statements), which was at a high-interest rate of 12% in addition to using repos to provide the liquidity needed by the Bank, and, of course, inflation.

The proceeds from the sale of the UK Bank and the sale of JNGI and JNFM are being used to reduce expenses, which will in turn help to reduce the cost-to-income ratio. The latter two transactions were completed subsequent to the March 2025 year-end.

Deposits are Safe

The real tangible net worth that should be assessed is JN Bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR), as it is the real measure of how depositors are protected. The bank’s CAR is 12-13%, which is above the regulatory benchmark of 10%. JN Bank is, therefore, adequately capitalised, with a buffer of 2-3% above the normal level.

Investment in ONE JN Passport and Other Tech

The ONE JN Passport is aimed at reducing the friction experienced each time a person is onboarded through the establishment of a new account with JN Bank. Currently, every interaction to open an account at JN Bank is done through the app. The approval received from the regulator was for the app to be used exclusively for the companies in the JN Financial Group, which has been contracted by the sale of two of the major subsidiaries.

The JN Group accepts that the various mobile applications should be integrated into one platform and this is planned. Most of the applications are designed primarily for the bank, which is the entity where most of the membership of the Group resides.

 The ONE JN Passport has reduced the time of processing unsecured loans by 50% from application to processing and disbursement. This has released full-time employees in the bank to focus on customer service and other activities.

Profitability of JN Bank UK

The JN Group made a strategic decision not to input additional sums to further capitalise the UK bank, hence it sought an investor who is now the majority shareholder. The new majority share owner has since invested £26 million of capital in the UK bank over the past year.

By getting additional capital, the UK bank has been able to increase its lending, which has allowed it to achieve profitability. For banks in the UK, scale is important and the additional capital has enabled the new owner to scale up its operations. The challenges with the bank were not as a consequence of management failure by the JN Group.

About JN Group’s Strategy

The JN Group’s operational strategic plans are assessed annually to determine if changes or amendments are needed to achieve the objectives of the Group. The records show that the Group and its subsidiaries are on track to achieve their objectives, including JN Bank, which has increased its profitability. The Group has also cut its losses by 50% year over year for 2024 to 2025.

Our Real Position in the Mortgage Market

The Bank of Jamaica’s Quarterly report on mortgages for DTIs for September 2025 indicates that JN Bank ranks first among building societies in the provision of mortgage services. The bank is second overall in the mortgage market.

Departure of senior executives

The two senior executives mentioned who departed from the organisation retired from their respective companies. The JN Group’s succession plan was implemented and the persons assigned to the roles were placed in the positions in an acting capacity as stipulated by the succession plan.

Who Reports to the Group CEO

The Group employs more than 2,000 people across 14 member companies. Each company is staffed by managers, executives and a managing director and is governed by its own board of directors. Twelve people report directly to the Group CEO.

The Turnaround

The Group agrees that for change to occur, there must be an honest assessment. This assessment has been made with the assistance of external management consultancy firms, locally and internationally, that have recommended changes at the management and board levels.

Those changes are being implemented, and the organisation is confident that there will be material improvements in the management and governance of the Group.

What Members Deserve

The members and customers of JN, which include the financial group and the non-financial group, deserve excellent customer service and have the assurance that their assets are safely held. The JN Group is in full compliance with the regulatory targets. Members who are savers and depositors should also continue to monitor the performance of the bank to ensure that its capital and reserves remain compliant with the regulatory requirements of BOJ and FSC.