Board of Directors

Mr. Yashmid Karamath is an accomplished business leader with over 30 years of experience in executive management, corporate governance, and strategic leadership, Mr. Karamath currently serves as Chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Limited, Hafeez Karamath Limited (HKL), a leading construction and engineering company in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Desalination Company of Trinidad and Tobago (DESALCOTT), one of the largest desalination plants in the Western Hemisphere.
Throughout his career, Mr. Karamath has demonstrated exceptional vision and leadership. He successfully negotiated the acquisition of shares previously held by an international multinational, securing full local ownership and managing the financing and repayment for the transaction. At HKL, he has overseen large-scale national construction projects, consistently positioning the company as a market leader.
As founder and President of Titan Building Consultants, he has provided construction management services for national and international clients for over 25 years. His expertise spans strategic planning, enterprise-level financial management, operational expansion, and sustainable growth.

Nigel Baptiste was appointed to the Republic Bank Limited Board of Directors in 2016. He is the Managing Director of Republic Bank Limited since 2016 and a career banker with more than two decades of experience. Prior to his current position, he has served as Deputy Managing Director and Executive Director of Republic Bank Limited, General Manager Human Resources as well as Managing Director of the Group’s subsidiary in Guyana. Mr. Baptiste currently serves on the Boards of Republic Financial Holdings Limited, Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, Republic Bank (Ghana) Plc., Cayman National Corporation and other subsidiaries within the Republic Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours and a Master of Science in Economics from the University of the West Indies (UWI), is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Programme, holds a Diploma with distinction from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking (USA), and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (England).

Dr. Timothy Affonso is an Attorney-at-Law, Lecturer, and Consultant with extensive experience in civil litigation, public law, human rights, and constitutional matters. He currently serves as a Lecturer and Deputy Dean (Student Matters) in the Faculty of Law at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, where he also served as Acting Dean from 2022 to 2023.
Dr. Affonso holds a Ph.D. in Public International Law and International Human Rights Law from The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, as well as an LL.M. in Public Law and Human Rights (Distinction) from University College London. He has practised law as a Partner at Alexander, Jeremie & Co., and previously held positions at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Central Authority Unit, Ministry of the Attorney General.
A published author and legal scholar, Dr. Affonso has contributed several books and peer-reviewed chapters on international law, constitutional reform, and human rights, and continues to serve on editorial boards and professional committees both regionally and internationally.

Ms. Nalini Bansee, is an experienced Attorney-at-Law with over 15 years of practice in civil and criminal litigation, family and commercial law, conveyancing, probate, and industrial relations. She currently leads her own practice and has previously served with Invictus Chambers, Vici Chambers, and Trinity Chambers.
Her career began as a Temporary Clerk at the Ministry of Public Administration and Information (2004–2005), followed by a role as Paralegal Officer at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (2005–2007), before completing a six-month Pupillage at Trinity Chambers (2008–2009), gaining hands-on experience in legal research, drafting, and courtroom advocacy.
Ms. Bansee holds an LL.B. (Hons.) from the University of London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Distinction) from the University of Wolverhampton, UK, and is recognized for her strategic legal insight and mentorship of young attorneys.

Trevor Gomez was appointed to the Board of Republic Bank Limited in September 2020. He is the current Executive Chairman of Gravitas Business Solutions Limited and has more than 30 years of public accounting experience serving a diversified portfolio of clients with an emphasis on the financial services sector, consumer products, industrial products, retail and distribution, public companies, multi-nationals, and other large regional and domestic clients. Mr. Gomez has developed a robust understanding of critical business processes, financial accounting and reporting, and regulatory issues facing companies in several industries across the Caribbean. Over the course of his career in regional assurance operations, Mr. Gomez has used this understanding to the benefit of 15 partners and 300 team members who managed more than 500 audit clients. Prior to his current position, Mr. Gomez served at Ernst & Young for 25 years (1991 – 2015). In that time, he served as a Partner (1999), an Assurance Regional Service Line Leader (2004), and a Country Managing Partner (CMP) (2008). He is also a former Chair of the Audit and Accounting Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago. Mr. Gomez is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the UK and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Trinidad and Tobago.
External Appointments Mr. Gomez serves on several boards, spanning a wide range of businesses in the fields of financial services, consumer products, industrial products, and the automotive industry. He currently serves on the boards of Agostini’s Limited, Unilever Caribbean Limited and four subsidiary companies within the Massy Holdings Group.

Edward Ince was appointed to the Republic Group of Directors in 2016. Mr. Ince is currently Senior Partner/Co-Founder of Frontlight Ventures, a regional investment and consulting firm. He was formerly Managing Director of Prism Services Inc., a payments and operations outsourcing company that he co-founded in 1993, which has subsidiaries throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Prior to that he was General Manager Fujitsu-Caribbean (Eastern Caribbean). Mr. Ince has extensive knowledge of the Caribbean region, coupled with a background in technology, payments and back-office processing. Mr. Ince is a graduate of York University, Canada where he obtained a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Computer Science and is an Aubrey Collymore Scholarship recipient for Science.
External Appointments
Mr. Ince also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Foster & Ince Cruise Services, Cave Shepherd and Co. Ltd., Productive Business Solutions (PBS) – public company Jamaica and the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited.

Jacqueline Quamina was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Republic Group in 2016. She is a former Executive Director of Republic Bank Limited and former Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Republic Bank Limited and Republic Financial Holdings Limited. Ms. Quamina has extensive experience in governance, corporate law as well as banking, finance and mergers and acquisitions in the Caribbean. Her experience in the Group included responsibility for communications, governance, risk and compliance. An Attorney-at-Law with more than two decades of experience, she holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and was called to the Bar of England and Wales where she is a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. Ms. Quamina holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of London, an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of the West Indies, and is a graduate of the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Programme. She has participated in the Corporate Governance, Executive Education Program, Stanford University, and has completed the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Canada Director Education and Accreditation Programme and the Certificate in Corporate Governance at the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute. In July 2016, Ms. Quamina was awarded the title of “Fellow of the Institute of Banking and Finance of Trinidad and Tobago for Distinguished and Meritorious Service to the Banking and Finance Industry”

External Appointments
Ms. Quamina is a former Chairman of the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago, she has also served as a Director on the boards of TSTT, TTNGL, Eastern Caribbean Financial Holdings, Unilever Caribbean and The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce among others. She currently sits on the board of Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited, Republic Finance and Trust (Barbados) Corporation, and Republic Funds (Barbados) Incorporated. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum.

Caroline Toni Sirju-Ramnarine was appointed to the Board of Republic Bank Limited on April 1, 2022. She is the current Vice President, Corporate Operations and Transformation, Atlantic LNG, and the President of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T). With more than 25 years of experience in the Oil and Gas industry, Mrs. Sirju-Ramnarine leverages considerable expertise in Engineering, Business Development, Project Development and Management, and People Management. As Vice President of Atlantic LNG’s Corporate Operations and Transformation, she has senior strategic leadership oversight of Digital Strategy; Information and Technology Systems; Sustainability and Corporate Communications; and Workplace Transformation. Mrs. Sirju-Ramnarine holds an MSc. in International Management from King’s College, London and a BSc. in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, where she was named one of the university’s 50 Distinguished Alumni.

External Appointments
A Member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago, and the International Women’s Forum, Trinidad and Tobago, Mrs. Sirju-Ramnarine is also a Director of Loan for Enterprise and Network Development (LEND), a micro-financing agency in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Sandra Sookram is an accomplished economist and academic with over two decades of experience in leadership, research, and governance. She currently serves as Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at The University of the West Indies, overseeing its research agenda, teaching programmes, and outreach initiatives. Dr. Sookram holds a PhD, MSc, and BSc in Economics from UWI, St. Augustine, and has previously served as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. A prolific researcher, she has received several national and regional accolades and is widely recognised for her leadership and commitment to sustainable development and economic progress in the Caribbean.

Gregory I. Thomson was appointed to the Republic Group Board of Directors in 2014. He served as the Deputy Managing Director of Republic Bank Limited for seven years before retiring from this position in 2012. Mr. Thomson has more than 35 years of experience in Banking and Finance and holds a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

External Appointments
Mr. Thomson is currently on the Board of Directors at One Caribbean Media Ltd.