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What does Bill Clarke want from BNS?
'$85m not worth 40 years of my life'
By DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor Special Coverage Unit [email protected]
Sunday, March 01, 2009
DETRACTORS paint Bill Clarke as an arrogant man who ran the Scotiabank like his personal fiefdom.
Admirers counter that he is a highly successful man who does not suffer fools gladly. Few, if any, are willing to discount that record of success, and Clarke is relying on it to see him to victory in the fight of his life now unfolding in the Jamaican courts.
CLARKE... this salacious material was fed to the public about me and relationship with women
The account of William Bill Clarke's battle with the century-old Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) is one pitting a Jamaican against a multi-national institution, a type of David versus Goliath. And the bank, he claims, has all but told him so.
It is a story of the former CEO's angry determination that what the bank is offering him cannot represent the sum total of the value of 40 years of his life. "I never resigned and I was never dismissed by the board of the bank. Therefore, what I am asking for is that my compensation be based on a buyout of my contract," Clarke is insistent.
"What the bank is offering is as if I was terminated for cause. That would never be accepted by me in a hundred years," declared Clarke when asked by the Sunday Observer for clarification of aspects of the case he filed in the Civil Division of the Jamaican Supreme Court.
Clarke wants the matter taken to arbitration under Jamaican laws, saying: "Prior to the agreement that I should proceed on premature retirement, I was never charged or convicted of any criminal matter in Jamaica or elsewhere and I was never presented with any written charge and allegations from anyone associated with (BNS) or any other person with respect to any wrongdoing or inappropriate act," he said in the court papers. It is an unlikely scenario: the president and CEO of the country's most powerful bank fighting tooth and nail for a compensation package that could let him retire in dignity, if that is now possible, given the salacious stories doing the rounds.
Pitfield. summoned Clarke to Canada
On the other hand, Scotiabank - and the fight is being led from the headquarters in Toronto, Canada - feels its offer is justified, even handsome, in the circumstances.
Those circumstances relate to "...certain allegations and complaints made against him (Clarke) with regard to his personal and professional conduct that called seriously into question (his) fitness to continue as CEO", the bank's chairman, Robert H Pitfield said in his affidavit.
How could all this come to pass?
When 18-year-old Clarke first stepped into the Discovery Bay, St Ann branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia on April 16, 1968 to begin work, he might have harboured dreams of climbing from clerk, the bottom rung, to CEO, the pinnacle of the bank, at some point in the future. What he could hardly have imagined was that four decades later he and that same bank that had claimed the prime of his life, would be locking horns in an ignominious fight for his future.
Those four decades had brought stupendous profits to BNS...and banking glory to Clarke. The figures leave no doubt. In 1999, year three of Clarke's stewardship as CEO, the bank posted net profit attributable to stockholder of US$50,776,000. That jumped to US$123,359,000 in 2008. Dividend paid and proposed quarterly by BNS in the same period ballooned from a total of US$951,350,000 to US$4,045,044,000. Over the years, an impressive array of the international and local awards piled up. These include:
. The UK Banker Magazine's - Bank of the Year Jamaica in 2003-2005
. Best Annual Report and Best Practices Award - Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2005
. Banker of the Year - Latin Finance Magazine in 2006
. Best Bank in Jamaica - Euromoney Awards for Excellence in 2006
. Governor-General's Award for Overall Excellence in 2007
. MasterCard's Global Quality (Worldwide Gold) Award for Excellence in 2007
. Best Stockbrokerage website for 2007 (Scotia DB&G) - Jamaica Stock Exchange
. Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Jamaica Employers Federation in 2008
. Best Bank - Global Finance Magazine in 2008
. Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) in 2008.
The Jamaican bank was the darling of Scotiabank's worldwide operations, and Clarke strode through the corridors of power in Jamaica like a conquering champion. His peers had no hesitation in electing him president of the Jamaica Bankers Association, the industry umbrella. <span style="font-weight: bold">One of his rare defeats, even if a bitter one, was his trouncing by Chris Zacca for the presidency of the PSOJ in 2006, which ominously marked the beginning of his sorrows.</span>
Suddenly, from the dizzying heights to which he had climbed, through astuteness and hard work, Clarke found his fortunes in reverse and his fall seemed to have begun.
BNS staff knew that something was up when rumours, never substantiated, began swirling about the president and CEO regarding his alleged romantic relations.
"This salacious material was fed to the public about me and relationship with women. That is character assassination. They claimed I fired three such women," said Clarke, his face a mask of anger and pain.
The rumours, he said, started within the bank and intensified after he and the manager of one branch fell out, resulting in the manager's departure.
Clarke felt something was not adding up when he received an email inviting him to a July 8, 2008 meeting in Toronto, from Pitfield, who is also the executive vice president, International Banking Division of BNS.
"This request for a face-to-face meeting from Robert Pitfield with me was never done before and so I thought it was strange," said Clarke.
According to Clarke, Pitfield had said the reason for the meeting was to discuss "issues that could arise during the upcoming planning season". That meeting was normally held each year in September.
Clarke responded that he had prior commitments and could not make it. How about July 17 or 18 instead? Pitfield's response: "Bill, it was agreed that you and I would meet on Tuesday (July 8, 2008) and I expect you to be here Bill by tomorrow. This is not a debatable issue."
Clarke told the Sunday Observer that the tone was not unusual when dealing with the Canadians. "They have always wanted a subservient relationship with my office. We have some of the most qualified staff in the network. We are not audit takers and we have run a successful business. I have not been bashful about saying so."
But Clarke knew who was the boss. He was at Pitfield's office on July 9. Already there, he said in court papers, was Mayer Matalon, the deputy chairman of the BNS Jamaica board.
".Without any reference to the upcoming planning session, Robert Pitfield advised me that despite my long and distinguished service, and the exemplary manner in which I had led the Scotiabank franchise in Jamaica for 13 years, an executive decision had been made by officers of the Bank of Nova Scotia majority shareholder of the BNS Jamaica) to terminate my employment with immediate effect," Clarke said in his affidavit.
Clarke said that a series of allegations were outlined as the rationale for the decision. He also said he was told that several anonymous complaints from persons in Jamaica were made to senior executives in Canada about his conduct.
At the end of the meeting it was clear to Clarke that his relationship with the bank was being severed.
The former BNS CEO is maintaining that the allegations made against him by the bank were never put in writing, and he was never given an opportunity to seek legal advice nor to answer those allegations.
Clarke said his attorneys, Bishop and Fullerton, had advised him that such action "constitutes a breach of contract and a fundamental breach of the tenets of natural justice". Lead counsel in the court case is the eminent Dr Lloyd Barnett.
Before leaving the Toronto meeting, Clarke said he was handed a letter dated July 8, 2008 with separation terms and he was urged to "return to Jamaica, hold my head high and advise the directors and employees that I have decided to proceed on early retirement with immediate effect".
"I then asked Robert Pitfield as to the manner in which I should react to such a life-changing event.," Clarke said. "He advised me that the bank wishes to have an amicable settlement, but if I chose to fight the matter in court, the bank will do likewise because it has ample resources."
On the plane back to Jamaica the next day, Clarke went back over in his mind the previous day's events. What really had just taken place? He collected his thoughts. By the time the plane landed in Kingston, he had come up with a plan.
In tomorrow's Observer
'$85m not worth 40 years of my life'
By DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor Special Coverage Unit [email protected]
Sunday, March 01, 2009
DETRACTORS paint Bill Clarke as an arrogant man who ran the Scotiabank like his personal fiefdom.
Admirers counter that he is a highly successful man who does not suffer fools gladly. Few, if any, are willing to discount that record of success, and Clarke is relying on it to see him to victory in the fight of his life now unfolding in the Jamaican courts.
CLARKE... this salacious material was fed to the public about me and relationship with women
The account of William Bill Clarke's battle with the century-old Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) is one pitting a Jamaican against a multi-national institution, a type of David versus Goliath. And the bank, he claims, has all but told him so.
It is a story of the former CEO's angry determination that what the bank is offering him cannot represent the sum total of the value of 40 years of his life. "I never resigned and I was never dismissed by the board of the bank. Therefore, what I am asking for is that my compensation be based on a buyout of my contract," Clarke is insistent.
"What the bank is offering is as if I was terminated for cause. That would never be accepted by me in a hundred years," declared Clarke when asked by the Sunday Observer for clarification of aspects of the case he filed in the Civil Division of the Jamaican Supreme Court.
Clarke wants the matter taken to arbitration under Jamaican laws, saying: "Prior to the agreement that I should proceed on premature retirement, I was never charged or convicted of any criminal matter in Jamaica or elsewhere and I was never presented with any written charge and allegations from anyone associated with (BNS) or any other person with respect to any wrongdoing or inappropriate act," he said in the court papers. It is an unlikely scenario: the president and CEO of the country's most powerful bank fighting tooth and nail for a compensation package that could let him retire in dignity, if that is now possible, given the salacious stories doing the rounds.
Pitfield. summoned Clarke to Canada
On the other hand, Scotiabank - and the fight is being led from the headquarters in Toronto, Canada - feels its offer is justified, even handsome, in the circumstances.
Those circumstances relate to "...certain allegations and complaints made against him (Clarke) with regard to his personal and professional conduct that called seriously into question (his) fitness to continue as CEO", the bank's chairman, Robert H Pitfield said in his affidavit.
How could all this come to pass?
When 18-year-old Clarke first stepped into the Discovery Bay, St Ann branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia on April 16, 1968 to begin work, he might have harboured dreams of climbing from clerk, the bottom rung, to CEO, the pinnacle of the bank, at some point in the future. What he could hardly have imagined was that four decades later he and that same bank that had claimed the prime of his life, would be locking horns in an ignominious fight for his future.
Those four decades had brought stupendous profits to BNS...and banking glory to Clarke. The figures leave no doubt. In 1999, year three of Clarke's stewardship as CEO, the bank posted net profit attributable to stockholder of US$50,776,000. That jumped to US$123,359,000 in 2008. Dividend paid and proposed quarterly by BNS in the same period ballooned from a total of US$951,350,000 to US$4,045,044,000. Over the years, an impressive array of the international and local awards piled up. These include:
. The UK Banker Magazine's - Bank of the Year Jamaica in 2003-2005
. Best Annual Report and Best Practices Award - Jamaica Stock Exchange in 2005
. Banker of the Year - Latin Finance Magazine in 2006
. Best Bank in Jamaica - Euromoney Awards for Excellence in 2006
. Governor-General's Award for Overall Excellence in 2007
. MasterCard's Global Quality (Worldwide Gold) Award for Excellence in 2007
. Best Stockbrokerage website for 2007 (Scotia DB&G) - Jamaica Stock Exchange
. Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Jamaica Employers Federation in 2008
. Best Bank - Global Finance Magazine in 2008
. Corporate Social Responsibility Award - Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) in 2008.
The Jamaican bank was the darling of Scotiabank's worldwide operations, and Clarke strode through the corridors of power in Jamaica like a conquering champion. His peers had no hesitation in electing him president of the Jamaica Bankers Association, the industry umbrella. <span style="font-weight: bold">One of his rare defeats, even if a bitter one, was his trouncing by Chris Zacca for the presidency of the PSOJ in 2006, which ominously marked the beginning of his sorrows.</span>
Suddenly, from the dizzying heights to which he had climbed, through astuteness and hard work, Clarke found his fortunes in reverse and his fall seemed to have begun.
BNS staff knew that something was up when rumours, never substantiated, began swirling about the president and CEO regarding his alleged romantic relations.
"This salacious material was fed to the public about me and relationship with women. That is character assassination. They claimed I fired three such women," said Clarke, his face a mask of anger and pain.
The rumours, he said, started within the bank and intensified after he and the manager of one branch fell out, resulting in the manager's departure.
Clarke felt something was not adding up when he received an email inviting him to a July 8, 2008 meeting in Toronto, from Pitfield, who is also the executive vice president, International Banking Division of BNS.
"This request for a face-to-face meeting from Robert Pitfield with me was never done before and so I thought it was strange," said Clarke.
According to Clarke, Pitfield had said the reason for the meeting was to discuss "issues that could arise during the upcoming planning season". That meeting was normally held each year in September.
Clarke responded that he had prior commitments and could not make it. How about July 17 or 18 instead? Pitfield's response: "Bill, it was agreed that you and I would meet on Tuesday (July 8, 2008) and I expect you to be here Bill by tomorrow. This is not a debatable issue."
Clarke told the Sunday Observer that the tone was not unusual when dealing with the Canadians. "They have always wanted a subservient relationship with my office. We have some of the most qualified staff in the network. We are not audit takers and we have run a successful business. I have not been bashful about saying so."
But Clarke knew who was the boss. He was at Pitfield's office on July 9. Already there, he said in court papers, was Mayer Matalon, the deputy chairman of the BNS Jamaica board.
".Without any reference to the upcoming planning session, Robert Pitfield advised me that despite my long and distinguished service, and the exemplary manner in which I had led the Scotiabank franchise in Jamaica for 13 years, an executive decision had been made by officers of the Bank of Nova Scotia majority shareholder of the BNS Jamaica) to terminate my employment with immediate effect," Clarke said in his affidavit.
Clarke said that a series of allegations were outlined as the rationale for the decision. He also said he was told that several anonymous complaints from persons in Jamaica were made to senior executives in Canada about his conduct.
At the end of the meeting it was clear to Clarke that his relationship with the bank was being severed.
The former BNS CEO is maintaining that the allegations made against him by the bank were never put in writing, and he was never given an opportunity to seek legal advice nor to answer those allegations.
Clarke said his attorneys, Bishop and Fullerton, had advised him that such action "constitutes a breach of contract and a fundamental breach of the tenets of natural justice". Lead counsel in the court case is the eminent Dr Lloyd Barnett.
Before leaving the Toronto meeting, Clarke said he was handed a letter dated July 8, 2008 with separation terms and he was urged to "return to Jamaica, hold my head high and advise the directors and employees that I have decided to proceed on early retirement with immediate effect".
"I then asked Robert Pitfield as to the manner in which I should react to such a life-changing event.," Clarke said. "He advised me that the bank wishes to have an amicable settlement, but if I chose to fight the matter in court, the bank will do likewise because it has ample resources."
On the plane back to Jamaica the next day, Clarke went back over in his mind the previous day's events. What really had just taken place? He collected his thoughts. By the time the plane landed in Kingston, he had come up with a plan.
In tomorrow's Observer
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