Cohort one of the FirstCaribbean/Wharton School of Business Leadership Programme, comprising bankers across the Caribbean, poses for a photograph at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, United States. - Contributed

FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) has created a virtual college for its employees, the FirstCaribbean University, that is currently schooling some 20 senior managers.

Pushing for what the bank says is one of the "best trained workforces in the financial sector" regionally, FCIB has partnered with the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, to offer courses in banking and finance and as well as supervision and management - offering both classroom and online training.

The 20 employees have completed the first module of a leadership programme to run for 18 months, said the bank in a release.

A 'mini-MBA'

FirstCaribbean, a US$10 billion company measured by its assets, refers to the programme as a "mini-MBA" which, it said in a release, "exposes senior employees to the latest thinking in business, taught by some of the finest academic minds in the field."

Courses covered so far include topics such as 'The Dynamic of Taking Charge'; 'Assessing Your Leadership Style'; 'Managing Change' and 'Critical Thinking and Decision Making'.

"The best way we can serve our customers is by exposing them to the best trained people in the region. The Wharton mini-MBA represents a significant investment by our bank in further developing our senior leadership team," said FCIB Chief Executive Charles Pink, quoted in the release.

"In total, over three years, we will invest some US$2.5 million in our senior leadership."

FirstCaribbean's vision, said Pink, is to become the "best bank in the Caribbean".

It employs 3,500 staff across 100 branches and banking centres, and has offices in 17 regional markets.

The first cohort returns to Philadelphia in January to complete module two of the seven-module programme.