The Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has advised of the “closure of the internal administrative process involving Dr. Hyginus Leon, and confirms that Dr. Leon has ceased to hold the office of the president of the bank”.
In a statement Sunday, the bank said by the agreement establishing Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Vice-President (Operations) Isaac Solomon will continue to exercise the authority and perform the functions of president until a new president is elected.
“The process for the election of a new president has commenced, and the board of governors has been invited to submit nominations for the position of the president of the bank by August 26, 2024,” the statement said. “It is expected that the election process will conclude in October 2024.”
CDB said under the direction of its board of governors and directors, and through the leadership of its management and the efforts of its staff, it continues to work fully and effectively, together with its member countries and development partners, to advance CDB’s mission of reducing poverty and transforming lives through sustainable and resilient development initiatives.
Dr Hyginus “Gene” Leon was the sixth president of CDB, the regional development finance institution based in Barbados. He was elected at a special meeting of the CDB Board of Governors held on January 19, 2021, for a five-year term.
Leon was sent on administrative leave from January, until April this year, as “an ongoing administrative process” continued at the region’s premier financial institution.
CDB had remained mum on the circumstances surrounding the decision to send the St Lucian-born economist on administrative leave, with Acting President Solomon confirming at a bank news conference in February that “there is an internal administrative process involving the president”.
In February, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who was attending the Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit in Guyana, said concerns had been raised about the method used to send Leon on administrative leave.
Leon headed a team of more than 200 employees, headquartered in Bridgetown, and came to the assignment with 35 years of experience in economics, financial policy development, and executive management — more than 20 of which were spent working with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. He had succeeded the Jamaican-born Dr Warren Smith who retired in 2021 after serving as president for 10 years.