When the teams from five Caribbean university campuses met last Tuesday to present their analysis of the Barclays-CIBC 2001 merger, it was all about communicating concepts in ways a television audience could understand.

Using the format of the popular Apprentice television programme, the all-woman team from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, beat four other competing teams to take first place and the FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) Challenge Trophy in the UWI/FCIB 2009 Case Analysis Competition.

This is the third consecutive win for the Mona Management Studies Department, whose students also triumphed in the 2007 competition in Barbados, and the 2008 match-up in Trinidad and Tobago, when the human resource and marketing aspects of the regional merger of Barclays-CIBC were looked at.

The teams' task was to analyse the vehicle used for the merger, the impact on minority shareholders, the consolidation of financial statements, the treatment of goodwill, uniting banking and accounting systems, and the challenges presented by staffing and transitioning.

impressed the audience

The UWI team impressed the audience with its clear discussion of why CIBC - although the smaller bank - had been listed as the deemed acquirer.

This strategy reduced transfer taxes and CIBC, as an entity with a legal presence in the Caribbean and as acquirer, also permitted publication and trading on regional stock exchanges, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.

Students also noted that minority shareholder interests were satisfied with a further offering of shares which represented an increase in value within the new and larger entity, FirstCaribbean.

In adopting the banking framework, the International Comprehensive Banking system (ICBS) of CIBC over Barclays' older 'Brain' system, FCIB also benefited strategically.

The ICBS was judged to provide greater uniformity in the chart of accounts, more accurate and meaningful comparisons, greater flexibility in usage, as well as more timely and consistent customer information.

Additionally, in discussing the accounting framework to be used in the new entity, CIBC's international accounting standards were also preferred, as this facilitated the status of the new entity as a publicly traded company and provided comparable and timely financial statements.

The competition, a component of the Case Study Development Project, developed under a memorandum of understanding between FirstCaribbean and the UWI, is designed to develop case-writing skills within the university and increase available regional case studies for use by the study population.

Team cave hill

Second was the team from UWI, Cave Hill, and third, UWI, St Augustine.

Two teams participated in the competition for the first time - the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica and the University of Southern Caribbean, Trinidad.

The UWI, Mona, team, comprising Mehar Alam, Sherica Lewars, Tenneil Rashford and Tifain Taylor, also won the prize for 'Most Original Case Analysis'. Tifain Taylor was voted 'Best Overall Presenter'.

The Cave Hill team also won the prize for 'Best Case Analysis', while 'Team Spirit Prizes' were awarded to one member of each team. They were won by Kevon Thomas, University of Southern Caribbean; Jason Allen, University of Technology; Donrick Slocombe, UWI, Cave Hill; Mehar Alam, UWI, Mona, and Jiselle Alexander, UWI, St Augustine.

Judges in the competition were Debra Lopez, director wealth management at FirstCaribbean Jamaica; Lancelot Leslie, chief financial officer, FirstCaribbean; Dean Panton, assistant financial controller, Jamaica Flour Mills; Yvonne Clarke, group chief finance officer, National Commercial Bank (NCB), and Allison Wynter, general manager, credit and risk management, NCB.

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