NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CIBC FIRSTCARIBBEAN’S MONIQUE FRENCH WINS PRESTIGIOUS WEQUAL AWARD
Kingston, Jamaica, March 11, 2021 – Monique French, Chief Credit Officer at CIBC FirstCaribbean is the winner of the 2021 We Qual Award. She aced 24 female executives of some of the biggest companies in the Americas identified as having the leadership traits for top-level executive management positions. She was one of three finalists in the Finance category in this year’s award, a first for the Caribbean.
The WeQual Awards (wequal.com/awards) recognised outstanding women in senior roles. With a mission to tackle the slow progress in appointing women to executive positions, the organization aims to make businesses more inclusive by identifying exceptional women executives and address the gender imbalance across the world’s executive committees. Katie Litchfield, Founder and CEO of WeQual Awards, devised the new platform which calls for women senior executives to build their case as to why they deserve to be appointed to the executive committee.
Nigel Holness, Managing Director of CIBC FirstCaribbean congratulated Ms. French “on her achievements in advancing the contribution and recognition of women in finance as well as women in Jamaica and across the Caribbean.”
Ms. French has extensive experience in the Financial Services Industry including leadership positions in Credit & Investments, Risk Management, Treasury, Sales & Trading, Reporting & Analytics. An executive with a depth of expertise in treasury, retail, small business, corporate, sovereign and private banking segments, she is presently the group-wide Chief Credit Officer for the CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank across all the territories in which the FirstCaribbean Group operates.
Ms French has served on various for profit, community, non-profit, industry and economic committees and boards and currently serves as a Director and the Governance Committee Chair of CFA Society Jamaica (industry association). Monique earned the CFA Charter in 2000, in addition to holding a BSc Accounting degree with First Class Honors from The University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica) & a MBA from The University of Western Ontario (London, Canada), completing the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) Designation.
In addition to CIBC FirstCaribbean, the Americas finalists were from a wide range of sectors and companies, including ABB Ltd, Analog Devices, AstraZeneca, BlackRock, Capital One, CGI, Comcast, Diageo, FIS, HSBC, IBM, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Marriott International, Morgan Stanley, Prologis, ServiceNow, SiriusXM, TELUS, Kellogg Company, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. They were all assessed against specific criteria: Leadership, Cognitive Ability, Drive & Resilience, Integrity, Emotional Intelligence, Personal Development, Approach to Equality, and Knowledge of the Business. All candidates were assessed blind with no name or company revealed in their application.
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About CIBC FirstCaribbean
CIBC FirstCaribbean is a relationship bank offering a full range of market leading financial services through our Corporate and Investment Banking, Retail and Business Banking and Wealth Management segments. We are located in sixteen (16) countries around the Caribbean, providing the banking services through approximately 2,900 employees in 64 branches and offices. We are one of the largest regionally listed financial services institutions in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean, with US$12 billion in assets and market capitalization of US$2 billion. We also have a representative office in Hong Kong providing business development, relationship management and fund administration.
CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC is a leading Canadian-based global financial institution with 11 million personal banking and business clients. Through our three major business units – Retail and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Capital Markets – CIBC offers a full range of products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network, branches and offices across Canada with offices in the United States and around the world.
For more information about CIBC FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube.
Media Contact:
Nigel Holness, Managing Director, CIBC FirstCaribbean, Kingston, Jamaica; Tel: (876) 935-4902
Marcia Erskine, PR Consultant, Tel: (876) 383-5283, Email: merskine@cwjamaica.com
Media contact
Debra King, Director of Corporate Communications, CIBC FirstCaribbean, Barbados Head Office; telephone: 246 367 2248; fax: 246 421 7148 and email: debra.king@cibcfcib.com.
