Butterfield Bank has announced that its wholly-owned Cayman Islands subsidiary, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd., has been named the Cayman Islands' Bank of the Year 2009 by The Banker magazine.

In selecting the winners, The Banker's global editorial team considered not only financial performance, but also strategic initiatives, innovative use of technology and commitment to human resources initiatives. The entries were judged on performance over the past year, as well as the strength of the bank's position for the future.

Butterfield received recognition for its continued strong financial performance in Cayman, its focus on innovation and customer satisfaction and its investment in employee training and development.

Conor O'Dea, managing director of Butterfield Bank (Cayman), said: "Despite the economic challenges that our industry and the world face, Butterfield remains focused on building for the future to ensure that we deliver world-class products and services for our customers.

"Our major investment in our 'One Butterfield' project to transition and transform our information technology platform and functionality for service delivery is tangible evidence of our forward-looking commitment to deliver to our customers and the jurisdictions in which we operate."

The Banker is a UK-based publication that each year selects banks in more than 100 countries to receive its Bank of the Year awards. Since the award was introduced in 2002, Butterfield has been named Bank of the Year four times in the Cayman Islands and five times in Bermuda.

The award follows recognition of the bank by other leading financial publications, Global Finance magazine, which named Butterfield 'Best Bank in Bermuda' for the fifth consecutive year in 2009, and Euromoney, which named Butterfield 'Best Local Private Bank' in Bermuda and 'Best Private Bank' in the Caribbean region in 2008. In October, Butterfield Trust was named Institutional Trust Company of the Year by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.