Capital & Credit rolls out another Phase of Caribvison 2010 Strategy with Major Overseas Alliance

The Chairman & Group President of the Capital & Credit Financial Group Ltd. (CCFG), Mr. Ryland T. Campbell, has announced the achievement and roll-out of another key objective of the Group’s five-year strategic plan, Caribvision 2010, with an alliance between its Florida-based company, Capital & Credit International Inc. (CCII) and Blaylock Robert Van LLC (BRV), a premier minority-owned and privately-held U.S.-based registered investment bank and broker-dealer.

Capital & Credit Financial Group Ltd. (CCFG), the parent company of CCII, and BRV have signed a letter of intent to form a strategic alliance by way of a Joint Venture and Equity Participation by Capital & Credit in BRV.   As a consequence of this joint venture, set to be finalised shortly, the operations of CCII will now be subsumed in and operate as part of BRV‘s Ft. Lauderdale Florida office, which is set to open before the end of the First Quarter.

This BRV and CCFG alliance will result in mutual benefits accruing to both entities and will allow them to leverage their resources and expand the financial services and investment products offered to their respective clients with a more comprehensive global perspective.  Specifically, CCFG will gain greater access to Jamaican and other Caribbean Nationals residing in the United States through BRV’s distribution capabilities in the U.S.; its Equity Research and Portfolio Advisory Platform (ELROI), and its experienced Portfolio Strategy Team and Asset Managers.   BRV will gain access to growing markets in the Caribbean and Latin America and its U.S. operations will benefit from having a well-capitalized Caribbean financial partner in CCFG, thereby allowing BRV to participate in a greater number of Corporate and Municipal Bond-Underwriting activities.

CCFG Group Chairman, Ryland Campbell, expressed his satisfaction that “this very important strategic alliance has materialised, which will position the Group to take advantage of forthcoming market opportunities and create greater value for our clients and shareholders.”

For his part, BRV’s President & CEO, Eric Van Standifer, notes that his Company sees “a tremendous opportunity in the Caribbean to fill a void left in the wake of two global investment banks dramatically reducing their presence in the region last year.”  He says further that “the two firms, BRV & CCFG maintain similar high standards for excellence and client service and opening an office in Fort Lauderdale underscores BRV’s commitment to this joint venture.”

The alliance follows on other aspects of Capital & Credit’s Caribvision2010 strategy, such as the launch of its Core Banking Technological Platform in April 2007 and the corporate re-structuring of the Group in 2008 resulting in the de-listing of its Merchant Bank’s Ordinary Shares and the listing of CCFG’s shares on the Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchanges.

Chairman Campbell reiterates his Organization’s ongoing commitment to continue to sharpen its strategic focus and streamline operations as other aspects of its Strategic Plan unfold.  To this end, the Company expects to see a notable reduction in overhead costs and increased efficiencies due to initiatives undertaken by the Group over the past year, including the re-location of it Securities arm, Capital & Credit Securities Limited (CCSL) next door to the Bank in New Kingston; and this week’s strategic re-organizing and re-structuring of the Organization to create four new divisions aimed at achieving greater Revenue, Productivity, Efficiency and improved Customer Service Delivery.  Now that development work for its Debit Card and Automated Teller Machine service (ATM) is complete and its Customer Contact Centre, CCFGNow is operational, there will soon be an official launch for these services.

Mr. Campbell notes that “Capital & Credit intends to sustain the momentum and will continue to seek profitable growth across all our business lines with even more initiatives concerning CCFG in the near future.”

ABOUT BLAYLOCK ROBERT VAN, LLC

Blaylock Robert Van LLC is a leading minority-owned investment banking boutique, offering innovative sales and trading, Capital Markets Underwriting, and Proprietary Equity Research. The Firm's mission hinges upon a single-minded focus on understanding and delivering financial services of the highest quality.

Blaylock Robert Van LLC provides asset managers with Global Electronic Equity-Trading capabilities and access to more than 40 worldwide Exchanges and provides institutional research through its proprietary platform ELROI - The Electronic Analyst®, a web-based research tool for constructing and testing portfolio strategies. The Firm also owns SPI Strategies LLC, a registered investment advisor. Based in Oakland, CA and New York City, BRV also has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Cleveland.  The firm is a member of FINRA, MSRB and SIPC. For more information, visit www.brv-llc.com.

ABOUT CAPITAL & CREDIT FINANCIAL GROUP LTD

The Capital & Credit Financial Group Limited (CCFG), now in its 16^th year of operation, is a strong diversified financial entity, which Provides Total Financial Solutions for Jamaicans, Caribbean Nationals and customers from across the world with a broad spectrum of Banking Services, Investment Securities, Remittance Services, Unit Trust Funds and International Broker/Dealer services, through five leading companies: Capital & Credit Merchant Bank (CCMB) - the flagship company and largest merchant bank in Jamaica; Capital & Credit Securities Ltd. (CCSL); Capital & Credit International Inc. (CCII); Capital & Credit Fund Managers Ltd. (CCFM) and Capital & Credit Remittance Ltd. (CCRL).  The Group operates businesses in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Florida, and is listed on both the Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchanges

CCFG’s Florida-based international brokerage subsidiary, Capital & Credit International Inc. (CCII) which was launched in July 2007, provides a range of financial products and also has a clearing arrangement with Pershing LLC, the largest clearing house in the U.S.A, through which the Company provides securities services for U.S.-based and foreign retail, high net-worth individual and institutional clients.  CCII is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).  More information on Capital & Credit can be obtained by logging on to http://www.capital-credit.com.