It came as a major surprise and again draws attention to beleaguered NCB.
The Canadian, Bruce Bowen, who was appointed CEO of NCB Jamaica in 2023, will be going on leave with immediate effect and then will resign at the end of February.
Sheree Martin will step in as interim CEO.
NCB Financial Group CEO Robert Almeida explained that Bowen, who ran Scotiabank Jamaica, was brought in to stabilise the Bank in 2023 following the dismissal of Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen.
Now that the bank has been stabilised, the Board wants to go in the direction of a stable growth mode and needs a new head.
It has been said that while Bowen was technically proficient and reported commendable results, he was not the dynamic leader required to head Jamaica’s leading bank.
When Patrick Hylton and Dennis Cohen were at the helm, NCB enjoyed unprecedented success with the share price going as high as J$210. Everyone clamoured to get their hands on NCB shares. Pension funds and conservative investors lapped up NCB. The Chairman, Michael Lee Chin, was riding high.
Then, as is often the case, there was a fallout between ownership and senior management, with Hylton and Cohen having to walk away. From then it has been all downhill for NCB as it spirals into turbulence and one drama after another. The share price has plummeted to around J$38, and it struggles to make timely dividend payments.
Michael Lee Chin’s predicament with AIC bondholders, issues concerning the insurance giant Guardian headquartered in Trinidad, and NCB Financial Group’s huge indebtedness did not distract Bruce Bowen from making incremental progress with NCB Jamaica. In that respect, the bank has been rock solid.
Under Bowen’s tenure, stability and an upward trajectory were attained. NCB Bank came from a comprehensive loss of J$9.06 billion in 2022 to bouncing back into black with $24 billion. For the Financial Year ended 2023, NCB Bank Jamaica posted a net profit of $8.4 billion with assets of $73.5 billion
The following year saw challenges with interest rates and a contracting economy, both locally and internationally. NCB Bank Jamaica saw its net profit fall to $6 billion with operating income of $75 billion.
The year 2025 saw another bounce back with net operating income of $89.3 billion and a net profit of $10 billion, with total equity and liabilities of $1.2 trillion.
Not bad.
Before taking the Job at NCB, Bruce Bowen had his own enterprises and was looking to get Rock Connect off the ground. He had already secured a telecoms licence from Daryl Vaz and had some big-shot local players signed on as partners. One needs vast capital to play in the telecoms game, just ask Denis O’Brien. The technology changes constantly, and operating costs are high.
Did Bowen have aspirations to return to this venture and thought 2026 was the right time to become the captain of his own ship? He would know how to raise capital, although liquidity in Jamaica at this time is prohibitive. Perhaps it would be better to stay in corporate Jamaica and continue to make NCB Bank Jamaica competitive and even more profitable. Why not bail out with a handsome pension?
Let’s face it, Bruce Bowen is the quintessential corporate man, and he is good at it. Why wade into ominous waters at his age?
Scott Galloway, in his wonderful book, Notes on Being a Man, addresses this subject under the heading “Lone Wolf Howling”
“People romanticise entrepreneurs. But for the most part, entrepreneurship is a function of the absence of certain abilities. Whether they own a car wash or are trying to launch the next big thing, most entrepreneurs lack either the access or the capacity to enter and survive the greatest wealth-creating vehicle in history, the American corporation.
“Working for a corporation is a great way to get rich slowly. The firm invests resources trying to make you better and on health insurance so you can get that mole removed. Otherwise, most new businesses meander along or fail. Starting or working for one is a risky, fraught way to make a living.
“Entrepreneur” is just a synonym for “salesperson” as you’re constantly trying to persuade investors, clients, employees or whoever else it might be.”
Looking at the NCB picture and all the drama since he got there, Bowen may have decided to bail out now. NCB Financial Group is heavily indebted, and with Guardian shares being pledged in order to raise US$300 million, who knows what is around the corner? The brand has suffered tremendously from the fallout from its chairman, Michael Lee Chin’s investment activities, in particular with AIC and Portland Holdings. As the majority shareholder in NCB, many of his shares have been pledged to bondholders, and the wolf is not at the door but in the house!
Questions are being asked whether the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Richard Byles, in all good conscience, can pass Lee Chin as fit and proper to preside over Jamaica’s leading bank, given the state of his indebtedness.
In a few weeks, if Lee Chin is unable to pull a rabbit out of the hat, Bowen would have had to reevaluate his options. He can leave now, knowing he completed the job he was brought in to do and hold his head up high or take a wait-and-see approach and find himself pushed out by a new majority owner looking to transform the Group’s fortunes.
He doesn’t want to find himself a dead man walking.
NCB’s decision to become a white knight to Jamaica Broilers Group and hand it a J$15 billion lifeline is perplexing. It is a mission of mercy rather than a sound banking decision. Why did it make such a dangerous bet on a company that is in hot water with a J$40 billion hole in its balance sheet?
It is unlikely that Jamaica Broilers, whose share price has taken a nosedive, can pay out dividends anytime soon. It will have to spend the next few years rebuilding and repairing the damage done. The Group will have to call on divine intervention and the healing powers of Jesus to pull through.
Questions are being asked of Group CEO Christopher Levy and Group CFO Ian Parsard. If this happened in the U.S. or any developed country, they would have had to step down or, at the very least, give an account of what occurred. Shareholders would be baying for blood. But this is Jamaica.
Then there is the inextricable link with Brue Bowen, who was a director of Jamaica Broilers. It still says he is a director on Jamaica Broilers’ website. He served as CEO of the Bank that gave Jamaica Broilers this big financial bailout, and that surely raises corporate governance issues.
This was short-sighted and jeopardised the integrity of NCB Bank Jamaica. It also calls into question the incestuousness and interconnectivity of corporate Jamaica, something the IMF has repeatedly warned about.
This could be the reason why Bruce Bowen had to make a quick exit. The Jamaica Broilers situation does not look good. Many companies would never be afforded the largesse Jamaica Broilers received, given it may very well become under U.S. Federal Government investigation.
Bruce Bowen joined the Board of Jamaica Broilers in August 2016 and became Chairman of its Audit Committee in 2021.
Last week, it was announced that NCB Bank Jamaica, with Bowen as its CEO, has arranged $6.4 billion in loan facilities with $8.7 billion in multi-tranche bonds with maturities extending up to 14 years.
This is a very sweet deal for Jamaica Broilers and breathes life into what could have turned out to be a cadaver. But should Bruce Bowen have played Dr Frankenstein?
Before going ahead with this loan facility, shouldn’t NCB have insisted on certain conditions like changes in senior management and a full explanation of what occurred with Chris Levy’s brother and Jamaica Broiler’s operations in the United States?
This again puts NCB under a cloud.
Many people looking for funding for their businesses have to undergo rigorous interrogations and need to meet onerous stipulations. So many in Jamaica are outright refused because they don’t have the right connections and don’t meet the “criteria”.
Maybe with the weight of exasperation, it was time for Bruce Bowen to say goodbye.
Comments