Bermuda Commercial Bank’s (BCB) chief operating officer (COO) Horst Finkbeiner left the organisation this month, The Royal Gazette has learned — just after the bank achieved record annual net income of $8.9 million.

Mr Finkbeiner, speaking about his time at BCB, said the results were a tribute to the bank team. He said: “Congratulations to them on the fantastic job they’ve done. They are a great team and really good people.”

He also gave credit to them for seeing BCB through the difficulties of the global economic downturn as well as the bank’s own challenges. “The team worked really hard to weather the storm — the global storm,” he said.

“I can see Somers Ltd [BCB’s parent company] is going to expand and I look forward to their success.”

In addition to dealing with the global economic problems, BCB, which had been owned by Dutch oil tycoon and Bermuda resident John Deuss, spent the end of the first decade of the millennium looking for a buyer. “We sold the bank in 2010 (to its current parent company). It was a tremendous challenge for all of us. It was a steep learning curve, and I’m really proud of this group. The team came together and moved it forward.

“Then, in partnership with the new investors, we expanded our products and we’ve re-entered the market and rebuilt the bank.”

Another tribute to BCB came from ratings agency Fitch, and was also reflected in yesterday’s fourth-quarter results announcement. It stated: “Fitch Ratings reaffirmed BCB’s investment grade rating and revised the Bank’s outlook to stable, as a result of the Bank’s strong liquidity, capital position and improving financial results. They commented that the Bank’s balance sheet “continues to be more liquid than its counterparts on the Island”.

Mr Finkbeiner, who was in the COO’s chair for the period leading up to the results, explained: “We had a conservative approach to managing the balance sheet.” He said maintaining a high Tier 1 ratio was an important goal for the management.

“Tier 1 is an indication of the strength of the bank’s balance sheet, and its ability to weather the ups and downs of the bank’s business,” he explained. The Somers release described the Tier 1 ratio as “remain(ing) strong at 22.3 percent”.

Mr Finkbeiner joined BCB in 2006 as the chief compliance officer, and in 2008 he was promoted to the COO position. He also joined the BCB’s board of directors and was the top executive there until early 2012, when Jonathan Clipper joined as CEO to begin a year-long stint in the post. Now, BCB has a new CEO with English banker Peter Horton, who arrived about three months ago to take up the role.

While in the COO role, Mr Finkbeiner became a chartered director through the Institute of Directors. “Professional training for directors is critically important when you are working in a stronger regulatory environment,” he said. “And the market place is much more competitive and complex — it is vital to have strong governance in place for any company.”

Management is another area about which Mr Finkbeiner feels strongly.

“I’ve always tried to bring together a team of people and create an environment where everyone wants to do their best. I’ve never been someone who has led by fear. I don’t see any role for aggressive behaviour, and if you want to get the best out of your people, you want them to feel respected and appreciated, and say ‘thank you’ to them,” he said.

“I’ve done this at BCB and the other places where I’ve worked.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to the people who are running the business, and seeing clients — they have to have loyalty to, and faith in, the business.”

Moving forward, he said: “I’ve been in banking for 25 years — I’ve gained an immense amount of experience and knowledge not only about banking but aviation, shipping, investment management — it’s been a lot of fun.

“I had been at BCB for seven years — the last five years have been an amazing journey and a tremendous challenge — I feel now is the right time to do something different.

“I’d love to do something new.”