‘Unhappy’ Lee-Chin cutting leave from NCB short
NCB Financial Group chairman Michael Lee-Chin is cutting his leave of absence from the company short and could return as early as Monday, OBSERVER ONLINE has been reliably informed.
The development comes less than two months into Lee-Chin’s leave of absence – it had been anticipated that it would last approximately three months – and follows the chairman publicly expressing unhappiness over the non-declaration of a dividend by the company in more than two years.
READ: I’m not happy!
It is understood that he plans to play a more active role in the day-to-day management of the company, with both the CEO of the NCB Financial Group, Patrick Hylton and his deputy Dennis Cohen being on vacation.
When contacted by OBSERVER ONLINE, a senior NCB executive confirmed that Hylton and Cohen are on vacation, but declined to be drawn into speculation about the reason.
Meanwhile, a director of the company would only say “people take vacation” while adding “I don’t know for how long they will be off” when asked about the duration of the leave.
Efforts to reach Lee-Chin proved futile.
Calls to Hylton and his deputy Dennis Cohen also proved futile with the cellphones belonging to both ringing without an answer.
In a Jamaica Observer story on Friday, Lee Chin sent a signal to the management that when he returns to the helm of the board, it will not be business as usual.
Lee-Chin, who said he is not happy about the lack of dividends from the company, also said he will press management to create a more efficient bank, improve corporate governance and work on making customer service central to the operation.
NCB Financial Group remains strong after posting a profit of $40 billion last year.