Business: CIBC's new Boss says "Yeah Mon"

The sitting US President may have raised the bar when it comes to mastering greetings in the Jamaican vernacular, but new CIBC First Caribbean boss Gary Brown, being a musician in his former and even present life, was ceding no ground when he took the podium at a welcome reception at the Terra Nova in his honour.

Preceded by a robust jazz suite from Harold Davis and Friends (Paul Madden -bs; Warren Harris -sx; and Andrew "Pregs" Thompson -dr), Brown adopted the now universal two-word greeting "Yeah mon" which elicited the expected peals of laughter from the clients, friends and well-wishers gathered in the hotel's Venetian room.

Based in Barbados, Brown arrives ata fortuitous time for the bank, which has seen strong capital gains over the past six months.

Brown confirmed the sentiments of other speakers thatthe bank's real growth prospects lay in the retail segment of the business, which it intended to make its presence felt, backed by the considerable resources and stability of its Canadian parent.

The gathering was also reminded of CIBC's strides i nthe digital banking space, including its online portal and its mobile app.\