NCB has announced some senior management changes, which see Sheree Martin appointed as CEO of NCB Jamaica and Julian Mair as NCB Financial Group CEO, replacing the Canadian Robert Almeida, a long-time ally of Chairman Michael Lee Chin.

This move is welcomed because for some time it was assumed that the Board would look to appoint some banking hotshot from Canada or the United States to head the Group and that Sheree Martin, appointed interim CEO when Bruce Bowen stepped away, would have to make way for a foreigner.

That’s the way it tends to go in Jamaica.

Michael Lee Chin has always positioned NCB as the people’s bank and aligned it with Jamaica’s national interests. NCB has sought to make the distinction between itself and its main competitors, Scotiabank and CIBC, centred around its intrinsic Jamaican character. Confidence in NCB is confidence in Jamaica.

Michael Lee Chin’s story is well documented and won’t be regaled here. As it now stands, the majority shareholder and the person who acquired NCB twenty-four years ago is Jamaican. The Head of the Bank is Jamaican, so too is the Group CEO. 

Sheree Martin has been with NCB for over twenty years and knows how it operates.  She will not need time to get up to speed. She has seen top management come and go and is well versed in NCB’s culture. She saw it ascend to market leader, and she has also seen its misfortunes. It’s never honey and roses all the time. The ability to triumph over adversity is a testament to character and know-how. 

Martin has a calm, collaborative management style which many at NCB find endearing. She does not take the abrasive, confrontational approach which sees her looking to assert her dominance. In the words of Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, “ Any man who must say I am the king is no true king.” 

Sheree never announces she is the boss; she just quietly and methodically goes about her business. Results are her calling card. 

Her promotion was well deserved and well earned. Throughout her career at NCB, she has headed up retail, credit, and marketing. Anywhere she has been placed, Sheree Martin has acquitted herself well.

Her appointment sends a positive signal to the staff at NCB. If you are loyal, dedicated, and can execute effectively, you can rise in the Group. Competence and ability do get rewarded. This is what Michael Lee Chin has done here, and it is commendable.

Julian Mair has been a top executive at JMMB for the better part of two decades and played a pivotal role in seeing it establish a footprint in Trinidad and the Dominican Republic. JMMB has gone from a money market player to an integrated financial services provider. It is one of the largest financial sector companies in Jamaica.  Again, JMMB’s values and the way it goes about its business is from a Jamaican perspective.

Before he was at JMMB, Mair served as Derhing Bunting and Golding’s (DB&G) Head of Treasury and Investment Services. He has served as President of the Jamaica Securities Dealers Association and also sat on the Board of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

Both Mair and Martin have vast experience and are young enough to steer NCB’s fortunes over the next decade and make it become the undoubted top indigenous financial services provider in the region. 

One of the things that Lee Chin has talked about consistently has been the culture of the institution. For the last few years, it has adopted the mantra of Efficiency, Governance and Customer Service (EGC). He sees this as the way of turning around its fortunes and creating a stronger entity. This will be even more important given the local and international operating environment.

Speaking at an investor briefing for Q3 2026, held on August 14, 2026, Chairman Michael Lee Chin said: “ The future results of any company, including NCB, are a function of its culture and how aligned the organisation is to a unified culture. What we are doing here currently at NCB is making sure that our cultural reset takes hold. This cultural reset revolves around the word “Care” and the acronym “ CARE”.

“As we know, the word “care” has some warm connotations. It suggests selflessness; it suggests service; it suggests empathy. If you think about it, wouldn’t you want the reputation of your own family and on a personal basis, to be one of care? 

“An institution should be no different, and hence to us this is our guiding light in respect to our culture. In terms of the acronym, what do the letters “CARE” mean to us?

C- Collaboration with our stakeholders

A- Accountability to all our stakeholders, both internal and external

R -Respect for all our stakeholders 

E_Excellence and mastery. That’s where we are going.

“ So the acronym “CARE” is very meaningful. The driver of our behaviour will be measured by it. I’m putting it out publicly: this begins with the Chairman. We have to lead by example, starting with the Chairman, permeating right through the organisation. That’s how we are going to build the best organisation not just in the region but the world.

“What will determine future performance is culture, and our culture is summarised by the word “Care”. 

NCB. Has a market cap of about US$1 billion. Its share price is around J$67.88 and is up 75 per cent year-on-year. It has a P/E ratio of 9.2. With Scotia looking to delist in Jamaica, NCB will be looking to recalibrate and adjust its strategy.  Will shareholders, now flushed with that money, take that money and buy NCB stock, thus giving it a boost on the JSE?

All this will be concentrating the minds of both Mair and Martin as they take the helm, but where success for them must come is from inculcating that “CARE” acronym throughout the Group. All staff members must buy into it, which will translate into an uptick in financial success. 

In the early months of their tenure, this must be a priority, operating with a culture that can determine future performance. They both must ascertain what differentiates NCB. What is NCB’s unique selling point? How does NCB retain and form new customers?

Michael Lee Chin is betting on local talent. He is again giving senior Jamaican executives an opportunity. The officer corps of the good ship NCB are Jamaicans. They should not let him down; they must repay his faith.