The Douglas Orane-headed GraceKennedy has injected $900 million into its subsidiary First Global Bank following that bank's projected bond-trading losses of more than $1.7 billion due to irregular trading activities.

The company said yesterday that the capital injection ensures that the bank exceeds the capital base to total assets ratio required by banking regulations.

"The injection of capital was done from GraceKennedy's own resources through First Global Holdings Limited, the immediate parent company of the bank and demonstrates Grace-Kennedy's stated commitment to stand firmly behind First Global Bank," GraceKennedy said in a release yesterday.

Breach of procedure

Investigations into the loss have so far determined that a senior employee breached procedures and conducted irregular transactions in United States Treasuries with overseas counter-parties. The employee was dismissed two weeks ago.

The bank has taken action to ensure that risks surrounding possible similar losses have been eliminated and has implemented additional measures necessary to ensure that there is no recurrence.