After four decades, six countries and countless positions within Scotiabank, Chester Hinkson, the first native St. Lucian to head Scotiabank St. Lucia, will retire from the bank effective July 31.
Hinkson has been with Scotiabank almost from its start in the country, as he joined its Collections Department on October 17, 1966, just two years after the bank first opened its doors.
He went on to become one of the cornerstones of the local business community, serving at various times as the president of the St. Lucia Bankers Association and the president of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.
His Scotiabank career took him beyond his island’s shores as he served in senior positions with the bank in The Bahamas, Canada, Grenada, Guyana and Haiti. Among his notable accomplishments was pioneering Scotiabank’s first micro-credit programme during his tenure in Guyana, an achievement which earned him the Canadian Award for International Development from the Canadian government.
Managing Director of Scotiabank Caribbean East, David Noel, hailed the veteran banker as “an icon at Scotiabank”, noting that “he has experienced and weathered many political, economic, social and financial storms, having served in all of the trouble spots like Grenada during the 1983 intervention and in Haiti during numerous coups”.
After decades working abroad with Scotiabank, Hinkson fulfilled his dream of returning home to give back to his country and in 2006 he was appointed country head of Scotiabank St. Lucia. Additional roles have included serving as a director of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Bankers, a director of the Rotary Club of St. Lucia and being a member of the Salary Commission Review for senior civil servants in St. Lucia.
Between 1994 and 1998, he served as the managing director of an indigenous bank in St. Lucia and in that capacity, served as chairman of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks.
He has also been a member of the Regional Advisory Board for the Bank of Nova Scotia International.
Just recently, his long service was recognised when the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce and Industry awarded him with the Corporate Leadership Award at the annual St. Lucia Business Awards.
Hinkson holds the bankers’ professional designation of an Associate of The Institute of Canadian Bankers, (AICB), a bachelor of commerce degree in financial services (BCOMM) from Nipissing University in North Bay Ontario Canada, and the Personal Financial Planner (PFP) designation from The Institute of Canadian Bankers.
Noel praised Hinkson’s determined spirit, saying: “He fights for what he believes in especially if he feels in it is in the best interest of all stakeholders. We wish Chester all the best as he moves on to a new chapter in his life.”