Bridgetown, Barbados, June 20, 2011 – FirstCaribbean International Bank is today announcing that it will be branded under the CIBC banner by adopting the co-branding ‘CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank.’

FirstCaribbean’s parent company, CIBC, is one of Canada’s largest banks with offices in major financial centres around the world. As an important member of the CIBC group of companies, CIBC FirstCaribbean will be adopting new branding elements to be more closely aligned to the CIBC brand, while still maintaining the FirstCaribbean name and local identity.

Michael Mansoor, the bank’s Executive Chairman.

“By joining together the strong branding identities of both CIBC and FirstCaribbean, CIBC FirstCaribbean represents the proud heritage and uniqueness of the Caribbean backed by the financial strength of CIBC, one of the largest and best capitalized banks in Canada,’ explained Michael Mansoor, the bank’s Executive Chairman.

“CIBC is one the leading bank’s in Canada and Canada’s banking system has been ranked as the best in the world by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum for the last three years,’ continued Mansoor.  “And in May, the Bloomberg Markets magazine named CIBC the fourth strongest bank in the world, so linking the FirstCaribbean brand with CIBC will leverage this financial strength and world class recognition.”

The transition to the new CIBC FirstCaribbean identity will be gradual over the coming months as the CIBC FirstCaribbean brand is introduced to operations across the Caribbean region. Over this time the claret (red) and gold of the CIBC brand will be phased-in as branch signage, employee uniforms, and marketing materials are updated.

“The addition of CIBC to the FirstCaribbean brand emphasizes CIBC’s long-term commitment to the Caribbean region, our employees and our clients,” emphasized the bank’s CEO John Orr. “Our clients and our employees across the Caribbean will continue to benefit from the long-term investment that CIBC is making in the region that dates back to our first branches opened in 1920.”

CIBC FirstCaribbean will continue to operate as a Caribbean-managed business within the CIBC group of companies, and will continue to be traded on the stock exchanges of Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange.

About CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank is the largest, regionally-listed bank in the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, serving over 500,000 accounts in 17 markets through 3,400 staff across 100 branches and offices. The bank offers a full range of market-leading financial services in Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury Sales and Trading, Retail Banking, Wealth Management, and Credit Cards.

CIBC FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC (TSX, NYSE: CM) is a leading North American financial institution serving clients in Canada and around the world. CIBC provides a full range of products and services to almost 11 million individual, small business and commercial banking clients and meets the financial needs of corporate and institutional clients. CIBC is rated A+/Stable/A-1 by Standard & Poor’s. For more information about FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com