Michael LARBIE

Michael Larbie has been an investment banker for the best part of his 22 years’ career in financial services. He is the current CEO and Managing Director of Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited, and Regional Head of West Africa.

Michael holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Sociology from the University of Ghana.

He has been involved in over US$30-billion worth of advisory and financing transactions, since he started his career at Merrill Lynch. He has executed transactions on several continents including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Michael joined RMB in 2010 as the Head of Investment Banking and Coverage, for the rest of Africa, outside South Africa at RMB, South Africa.

Prior to joining RMB, Michael was the Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for sub-Saharan Africa (excluding SA) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and before that, Head of Financial Institutions Investment Banking for Africa in London of the same bank. Michael was also a key member of Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking Financial Institutions team based in New York and a Financial Controller for Merrill Lynch’s Participant Service Group (Part of the Retirement Services Group) in New Jersey.

Prior to Merrill Lynch, Michael held various roles including financial controller, management consultant and Six Sigma project manager at American International Group (AIG) in New York.

Michael is currently the Chairman of First National Bank (FNB) Ghana. He is a member of the RMB Corporate and Institutional Executive Committee and sits on the RMB Corporate and Institutional Financial Resource Management Board.

He is married and has two daughters and two sons. Michael enjoys running, golfing and is an avid soccer fan.

Quotable quote

“There is no substitute for good old hard work and best efforts, so embrace it and enjoy yourself while at it. Challenges represent opportunities for creativity and innovation.”