Sacha Syne

General Manager

Sacha Syne

General Manager

Sacha Syne is a seasoned Banker with over twenty years of experience in Banking. He has been with First Citizens Bank for the last eleven years. Mr. Syne is currently charged with the overall responsibility of the Corporate & Investment Banking Unit. He was appointed the Assistant General Manager of First Citizens Corporate and Investment Banking Unit on Aug 1st, 2022, prior to which he held the position of Assistant General Manager of First Citizens Investment Services Limited as well as Head – Capital Markets and Head – Government Business within Corporate & Investment Banking Unit. He also has a wealth of experience in trading and advising clients on investments across the major asset classes.

Sacha holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick and an MSc in Financial Management from the University of London.

Capital Markets and Government Business Team

Mikkel Jackson

Head, Capital Markets and Government Business

Mikkel Jackson

Head, Capital Markets and Government Business

Mikkel is responsible for part of the Capital Market process which includes coordination with the issuer, documentation review, marketing, execution of the transaction as well as developing syndication strategies. He has over 6 years of combined experience in structuring and financial analysis to assist borrowers with large-scale fundraising and has total transaction deal experience in excess of TT$20 billion.
Mikkel has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration – Finance from the Heriot Watt University.

Rohini Ballie

Senior Account Manager

Rohini Ballie

Senior Account Manager

Rohini has more than 19 years of banking experience and has worked on the Government and Private Sector teams. Before joining First Citizens, she worked in the Commercial and Corporate Banking Centre at another financial institution.
She pursued an MBA (Oil and Gas specialisation) with the Heriot-Watt University and has commenced certification via the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI).

Javan Blackman

Senior Manager

Javan Blackman

Senior Manager

Javan held the position of Senior Manager at another regional financial institution before rejoining the team in December 2019. His experience includes Commercial and Corporate Investment Banking and Risk Mitigation with various roles in Risk Adjudication, Corporate Banking and Investment Banking since 2012.

He holds a Bsc. Economic (Minors in International Relations and Finance) and Msc. International Finance from the University of the West Indies and Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.

Private Sector Team

Shane Samodee

Senior Account Manager

Shane Samodee

Senior Account Manager

Shane has worked in the financial services sector for over 18 years. He has held the positions of Credit Manager, Corporate & Investment Banking and Relationship Manager, Corporate Lending. Shane brings a wealth of experience in relationship management, risk management and deal closing to the team. He holds a Diploma in Banking, Certificate in Business Administration, Certificate in Financial Analysis and has attended several Corporate Banking training programs.

Jeremy Haynes

Senior Account Manager

Jeremy Haynes

Senior Account Manager

Jeremy possesses 10 years of progressive banking experience spanning both Corporate Banking and Corporate & Commercial Credit Risk. He rejoined the team in June 2018 and is responsible for management of the Private Sector portfolio.

He holds a BA in International Economics from Ryerson University with a minor in Corporate Finance and university level accreditation in Spanish.

Portfolio Management and Operations Team

Dereck Ramlal

Head, Portfolio Management and Operations

Dereck Ramlal

Head, Portfolio Management and Operations

Dereck has been involved in the financial services industry for over 21 years and managed projects in various industries, locally and regionally. He attained an MBA in Finance at the University of Lincoln and BSc Economics at the University of the West Indies.

Alana Guerra-Lillywhite

Manager, Transaction Verification (Ag.)

Alana Guerra-Lillywhite

Manager, Transaction Verification (Ag.)

Alana has been with the First Citizens Group for the past thirty (30) years, working in several areas including, Bank Operations, Specialized Securities and Finance and Planning. For the last fifteen (15) years, she has served at the Corporate and Investment Banking Unit, undertaking Corporate and Government lending and portfolio management, for both local and regional clients.
Alana holds an MBA from the Anglia Ruskin University and a CIMA Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting.

Maya Allen

Account Manager

Maya Allen

Account Manager

Maya has been with the team since 2014, she has served as the relationship manager for a significant portfolio of private sector client relationships spanning several industries across the region, inclusive of tourism, real estate and entertainment. Maya currently spearheads the execution and closing of all deals associated with private sector relationships.

She holds a BSc in Actuarial Science and an MSc in International Finance.

Costa Rica Team

Felipe Castro

Regional Manager

Felipe Castro

Regional Manager

Felipe has 25 years of experience in the financial sector having had responsibility for revenue generation, deal origination and execution. Operating out of Costa Rica as the First Citizens Regional Manager for Central America and LATAM for the last 9 years, he brings his wealth of experience.


Felipe is the holder of a BSc in Business Administration from the Universidad Latino Americana in Costa Rica and a Post Graduate Degree in Capital Markets from Universidad de Costa Rica.

Carlos Castro

Relationship Manager

Carlos Castro

Relationship Manager

Carlos has over 11 years in the financial services industry. He worked as Regional Account Manager at another financial institution where he served corporate clients in Central America before joining First Citizens.

Carlos earned a BBA in Business Administration (Honours) from Northwood University, as well as a BA in Hospitality from Swiss Hotel Management School (SHMS), in Switzerland.

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