RBTT shareholders agree to RBC takeover

Majority shareholders of the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT) have agreed to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) takeover of the twin-island republic\'s largest commercial bank.

The shareholders agreed with a 98 percent majority, exceeding the required 75 percent approval.

The transaction will see RBC buying RBTT’s retail banking operations and then fusing its Caribbean operations.

Despite the overwhelming vote, there were hundreds of individual shareholders who did not support the sale.

When the issue was discussed prior to ballots being cast, many of them attending the meeting reportedly objected strongly to the sale of the Trinidadian institution to the foreign bank.

Their protests were supported by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, which demonstrated on the outside of the Trinidad Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, where the special shareholder meeting was held.