First Curacao International Bank Ltd. (FCIB) has increased its stake in Bermuda Commercial Bank Ltd. by 3.6 percent.

Its share in the bank now rises from 46.14 percent (2,056.001 shares) to 49.74 percent (2,861,577 shares), the Bermuda Stock Exchange was advised.

BCB's board had previously found a buyer for the bank and agreed terms - only for FCIB, the controlling shareholder to pull the plug on the deal.

An agreement was reached with an interested party and a draft purchase and sales agreement was approved by the board and endorsed by its financial advisor, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods in New York, at the end of last year, as disclosed to shareholders in a letter by chairman Dr. Clarence Terceira and president John Sainsbury.

But, to the consternation of the board, FCIB withheld its support of the deal. FCIB was acting under instruction from the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles, which took control of the Curacao bank following an investigation by the Dutch authorities into alleged money laundering and other illegalities in September 2006.

Butterfield Bank had expressed an interest in buying the BCB in October 2006, but later withdrew it.

BCB closed the year in the strong position, despite losing its chairman and president through their resignation following an investigation into FCIB, of which both were directors, and reported net income of $4.39 million for the six-month period ended March 31, 2008.