Darbasie appointed new BATT boss

KAREN DARBASIE was appointed the Bankers’ Association of TT (BATT)’s new president on Tuesday, according to a release sent by the association.

Darbasie was formally made president on Tuesday during a hand over ceremony at the First Citizens Corporate Centre, Port of Spain.

Darbasie, who is also the group CEO of First Citizens’ Bank, will be taking over from managing director of Republic Bank Nigel Baptiste. She will hold the position for the next two years.

Speaking at the hand over, Darbasie said BATT would give priority to advocating for legislation to satisfy the standards for Global Forum and work on the Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax purposes, support CFATF and lobby for the required legislative changes to ensure the implementation of the common agreed measures against money laundering and financial terrorism and continuing BATT’s Know Your Customer -KYC-Blockchain initiative.

The release described Darbasie as a career banker, who was appointed as the first female CEO of First Citizens’ Group.

Her tenure at the bank was marked by significant achievements, like a Group-wide organisational transformation exercise, significant efforts toward the advancement of women and girls, through the and increased profitability with the group crossing over $1 billion in profit before tax for the first time, at the end of the September 2018 fiscal period.