CIBC scraps Caribbean sale as Canadian banks face hurdles selling overseas assets
By Nichola Saminather
b(Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) became the latest Canadian bank to face hurdles in exiting disappointing acquisitions, joining rivals still holding overseas assets they have sought to sell even as they look to deploy record levels of capital.
Canada s fifth-largest lender said on Wednesday it had scrapped the $797 million sale of a 66.7% stake in its FirstCaribbean business to GNB Financial after failing to get regulatory approval.
CIBC s inability to exit challenging Caribbean markets reflects the hurdles Canadian banks have faced in making an M&A strategy work. The problem is especially acute now with the banks sitting on combined excess capital of C$70 billion ($55 billion), due to a pandemic moratorium by regulators on share buy backs and increasing dividends.