Bridgetown, Barbados, April 3, 2007, – FirstCaribbean today announced the appointment of four new hires to its Capital Markets team. Marcus Jagdeo, Vitra Bishop, Gregory Samuels and Jamaal Stubbs bring varied regional and international banking experience to the unit. They join FirstCaribbean Capital Markets’ offices in The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago.

“Our recent recruitment and promotion efforts reflect FirstCaribbean’s ongoing commitment to making hiring decisions that further establish Capital Markets as a team with significant expertise in our field,” said Ian Chinapoo, Managing Director, Capital Markets.

Marcus Jagdeo, Associate Director, Structured Finance

As Associate Director, Structured Finance Head, Marcus will develop innovative strategies to enhance the unit’s market-leading portfolio. In addition, he will play a significant role in product development for Capital Markets, while enhancing FirstCaribbean’s global investment banking network.

His banking career began in 1997 with Citibank in Trinidad & Tobago. He later held positions in risk management and trading at Credit Suisse Securities Limited and JPMorgan Chase in London.

In 2004, he joined the AIC Financial Group Limited in Trinidad & Tobago as Assistant Vice President in the group’s Merchant Bank. He later filled the roles of Vice President and Director of two of AIC’s subsidiaries.

Marcus is a first-class honours graduate of the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he earned a Bachelor of Mathematics. He holds a Master of Science degree in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the ISMA Centre Business School, University of Reading, UK.

Among his professional qualifications are a UK Securities & Financial Derivatives Representative designation and a number of Society of Actuaries credentials.

Marcus is based at the Trinidad & Tobago office.

Vitra Bishop, Business Analyst

Vitra joins FirstCaribbean with varied banking experience. Her professional career includes work in Mortgage Brokering, Retail and Personal Banking and Wealth Management in Toronto, Canada.

Before joining FirstCaribbean, Vitra held the position of Senior Manager, Investments at AIC Financial Group in Trinidad & Tobago.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with honours from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.  She is a licensed Mortgage Broker and holds a qualification in Investment Funds in Canada (IFIC).

At FirstCaribbean, Vitra will be responsible for providing research and analysis support, while identifying and maximising key Capital Markets business opportunities.

She will work from the Trinidad & Tobago Capital Markets office, which serves the twin-island Republic and the Netherlands Antilles.

Gregory Samuels, Business Analyst

Gregory joins FirstCaribbean from the Caribbean business of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in Jamaica.

There he held a number of positions, including Operations Manager for Shell Gas. In that role, he spearheaded the development of the Jamaica operation, including a number of investment projects and the construction of an LPG plant in central Jamaica.

Gregory holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from the University of the West Indies and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

As Business Analyst for FirstCaribbean Capital Markets, Gregory will provide key support in data modelling, relationship management, and market research and analysis.

Gregory is based at Capital Markets’ Jamaica office, which provides Capital Markets services to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Belize.

Jamaal Stubbs, Business Analyst

Jamaal joins FirstCaribbean with diverse banking experience. During his career, he has filled a number of roles, including Research Analyst, licensed Securities Trader and Cash Manager.

Prior to joining FirstCaribbean, Jamaal worked with Colina Financial Advisors Ltd., where he worked in the areas of investor education and financial media relations.

Jamaal holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, and is a Level II candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst program.

As Business Analyst, he will be responsible for performing competitive analyses and providing key research in the development of deal structures.

Jamaal works from Capital Markets’ offices in The Bahamas, which serves clients in The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

FirstCaribbean Capital Markets continues to raise debt capital for governments, state-owned enterprises and private and public companies. In addition to debt underwriting and structured project finance, the unit’s product and service suite includes Equity Underwriting, Syndicated Loans and Structured Finance offerings.