10 million First Citizens shares for sale

First Citizens Group Financial Holdings (FCGFH) is offering more than ten million of its shares for sale, it said in a release to the media on Tuesday.

But interested investors will have to move quickly, as the shares will only be available up until July 22 at 4 pm.

In the release, First Citizens announced it was offering a total of 10,869,565 ordinary shares, which will be limited to $50 a share.

Investors must have a brokerage account and submit an application form.

To open an account, a person must have a valid government identification card or driver’s permit, proof of address no more than two months old, and a chequeing or savings account number. Non-nationals are required to have full-colour notarised copies of two forms of valid government-issued identification, notarised proof of address, proof of income and a local bank account number.

To apply for the shares, one needs to provide a brokerage account number, government-issued photo identification, a bank account and exact payment with a TT dollar cheque in the exact amount of the desired shares. The release said subscriptions valued at $50,000 and more would require a declaration of source of funds.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced the divesting of the shares in his 2022 budget speech in October. He said the additional shares in the bank would be issued in an attempt to raise about $550 million.

In 2013 a total of 49,495,665 shares were put up for sale, but the IPO was marred when then Chief Risk Officer, Phillip Rahaman was accused of buying 659,588 FIRST shares and later sold it to relatives. Rahman agreed to pay a fine of $750,000 “without any admission of liability.”

Former independent senator Subhas Ramkhelawan and his company, Bourse Securities also faced fines by the TT Securities and Exchange Commission for its involvement in the IPO scandal. Ramkhelawan paid $1.3 million.