HFC Bank MD Retires To Take Up Ministerial Appointment

The Managing Director of HFC Bank, Robert Le-Hunte has announced his early retirement from the institution.

According to a circular issued to shareholders by the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr. Le- Hunte is due for a ministerial appointment in his home country, Trinidad and Tobago.

The Board Chairman of the Bank, Charles William Zwennes, confirmed the approval of Mr. Le Hunte’s departure by the President of Republic Financial Holdings Limited and HFC Bank’s Board of Directors.

He further noted that the appointment of a new Managing Director would be announced shortly to ensure a smooth transition.

The Board Chairman reaffirmed Republic Financial Holdings Limited’s long-term commitment to Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa adding, “the Group will continue with the execution of its strategy towards the success of HFC Bank.”

According to Mr. Zwennes, the Bank has made significant strides under the leadership of Mr. Robert Le Hunte.

He noted the recent achievement of bringing the Bank back to profitability with a historic half year performance.

“The Bank is very pleased with Mr. Le Hunte’s initiatives of re-tooling the Bank and the enthusiasm he brought to bear. We have no doubt about Mr. Le Hunte’s future successes and we stand hopeful and excited for the next chapter of HFC Bank,” he said.

The statement adds that the board will in due course communicate to the market the replacement of Mr. Le- Hunte.

Mr. Le-Hunte was in 2015 appointed as MD of the bank after he served as the Executive Director in charge of risk management.

This followed the exit of Asare Akuffo from the institution following the takeover of by Trinidad and Tobago bank, Republic.

Mr. Robert Le Hunte was appointed as the Managing Director of HFC Bank in July 2015.

Prior to this appointment, he was the Executive Director responsible for Risk Management of the Bank and had over the years served Republic Bank in several key positions.

Before coming to Ghana, he was the Director of Republic Bank-in -charge of its Africa operations. He was also the General Manager responsible for Planning and Financial Control at Republic Bank in Trinidad and Tobago.

Many have credited him with overseeing the acquisition of HFC bank by Republic bank and the transition to Republic Bank Ghana which would be completed with the change in the brand from HFC to Republic by close of this year.

Under his leadership as the Managing Director, HFC Bank has made notable progress in Culture Revitalization, ICT Infrastructure, Service Excellence, CSR Engagements and managing Non-Performing Loans.

During his tenure, the Bank made a historic first half year performance in 2017 by posting a profit of ¢26 million with an impressive cover ratio of over 65% provision to non-performing loans.

The Bank was recognized early in 2017 by the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP) as having undertaken the Most Successful Change Management Program in 2016.

HFC Bank was also named as the Most Telephone Efficient Bank in the Financial Institution survey conducted by Walsbridge Market Research.

At the 16th Ghana Banking Awards 2017, HFC Bank was adjudged the 2nd Runner-up in Corporate Social Responsibility and the 1st Runner-up in Trade Finance.

Mr. Le-Hunte holds an economics degree from the University of Ontario, Canada.

He also holds an MBA from the University of Manchester UK and MSc in Accounting, from the University of West Indies.