The Jamaica National Group has revealed that it's exploring the possibility of obtaining a banking licence in Cayman.
According to the Cayman Compass news website, the loss of correspondent banking relationships and escalating costs for its remittance-service business have prompted Jamaica National to set up a commercial banking arm in the UK and investigate whether to launch a bank in Cayman.
At the group's recent annual general meeting, Jamaica National's chief executive officer, Earl Jarrett, said the correspondent banking crisis has significantly increased operational costs.
In the group's annual report, Mr. Jarrett said the company has struggled to maintain correspondent banking relationships for JN Bank and its representative offices overseas, as well as JN Money Services, the remittance company that also operates in Cayman.
In 2015, Jamaica National, which operated MoneyGram and several other cash-transfer brands in Cayman, lost its correspondent bank, Cayman National Bank.
Mr. Jarrett noted that JN Money Services experienced a 42 per centincrease in banking costs in the UK over four years, while in the Cayman Islands, the cost rose by more than one thousand percent over the past five years.
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