An internal memo sent to RBC employees Caribbean-wide has warned staff of an impending initiative by the bank to "aggressively reduce costs" in the early part of 2014, while promising that the bank will provide "the necessary support to those not able to secure other roles" within the bank.
In the letter sent on January 23, obtained by Guardian Business, Suresh Sookoo, CEO, Caribbean banking, RBC, and Kirk Dudtschak, president, Caribbean banking, RBC, said that the bank is seeking to "reposition and strengthen RBC Caribbean in the year ahead", adding: "This hasn't been - and will not be - an easy process."
The letter was sent out days before RBC announced plans to sell its Jamaican operation, RBC Jamaica, to Sagicor Group Jamaica, a rival financial institution, for an undisclosed price. This action was followed two days ago by the decision at RBC Financial (Caribbean) Ltd, owned by RBC, to send home 20 employees from its Business Development Unit at a number of branches across Trinidad and Tobago.
The memo from the executives points to a plan to have "most of the changes complete or in progress by the end of April", which suggests that more significant shifts may be to come for the bank in the region beyond these announcements.
According to an RBC Bahamas employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, the letter was sent to Bahamian staff of the bank, sparking concerns about potential downsizing in operations in this country.
In the letter Sookoo and Dudtschak said that the bank has been operating "in a period of low growth and considerable uncertainty given the weak economic environment in many parts of the Caribbean".
"We are continuing to restructure and improve our business to better lead in the markets we serve and to sustainably strengthen our business performance, service and competitiveness. This includes maintaining our focus on customers and business growth, while aggressively reducing costs.
"This work will accelerate in the early part of 2014 as we seek to ensure we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible, while being focused on the markets in which we can be a leading competitor. Our aim is to have most of the changes either complete or in progress by the end of April. This hasn't been - and will not be - an easy process, given the impact on you, our employees."
The bank said it is looking carefully at how it works "across all levels of our organization".
"Please be assured that as specific changes are determined, they will be
communicated to impacted employees and clients with as much lead time as possible. As always, where employees are impacted, we will provide the necessary support to those not able to secure other roles within RBC," the executives added.
With the letter, RBC has joined FirstCaribbean International Bank and Scotiabank Bahamas in indicating plans to reduce costs in the Caribbean in a manner that could, or will, impact employees in this country.
While just being brought to public attention, the RBC memo was released on the same day - January 23 - as Scotiabank Bahamas held meetings with some of its potentially impacted employees over plans to "centralize" its operations within the Caribbean in order to enhance "efficiency and effectiveness" within the Canadian bank.
While unclear on whether job losses would result from its movement of certain functions to its Caribbean South Hub, based in Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Bahamas said it would offer voluntary separation packages and try to accommodate staff in other areas.
FirstCaribbean announced plans to reduce costs via downsizing in its staff numbers in The Bahamas last October, starting by offering employees voluntary separation packages. To date, the bank has yet to reveal how many redundancies may occur at the bank, with this number having been said to be determined by the take-up of the voluntary separation offer. The bank had been hard hit by loan defaults.
Guardian Business sought a statement from RBC Bahamas on potential Bahamas-based implications of the bank's plans, but a statement was said to be forthcoming up to press time.

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