Scotia Group Jamaica gets greenlight for special shareholders meeting

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Scotia Group Jamaica (SGJ) has gotten the green light from the Supreme Court to hold a special meeting of shareholders to consider the proposed Scheme of Arrangement in which the banking group would go private. 

The Scheme of Arrangement involves SGJ minority shareholders selling back their shares to the majority shareholder and parent company, Scotiabank Caribbean Holdings Limited (SCHL), thereby taking the Jamaican banking group private and being delisted from the Jamaica Stock Exchange. 

By Formal Order dated July 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of Jamaica granted SGJ, pursuant to section 206 of the Companies Act, 2004, permission to convene separate meetings of shareholders of both Scotia entities for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, approving, with or without modification, the proposed Scheme of Arrangement.

SGJ will issue formal meeting notices and provide further updates in accordance with applicable disclosure obligations. The first meeting will take place on October 7 at the AC Hotel by Marriott, Lady Musgrave Road, Kingston 5, starting at 10:00 a.m. for shareholders of SCHL and the second meeting of SGJ minority shareholders at the same location, starting at 11:00 a.m. 

The Formal Order states that the “Chairman at each meeting shall direct reports of the results of the meetings to the Court. Such reports shall include: a duplicate of the Scheme of Arrangement presented to be considered at each said meeting, the resolution considered at each meeting, and a report of the votes of SGJ stockholders present and voting in person or by proxy at each meeting. The date for the final hearing of the Fixed Date Claim Form is the 30th day of October, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. for one hour.”

Last month, SCHL announced that it is buying out minority shareholders in SCJ to take the subsidiary private. Minority shareholders are being offered $61.50 JMD in cash per share, with the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

This $54-billion privatization will end the bank’s 60-year trading history on the Jamaica Stock Exchange.