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Deltec review

Deltec Bank & Trust Limited

One star: no published fees.

Booking centreBahamas
RegulatorCentral Bank of The Bahamas; Securities Commission of The Bahamas (per bank site)
Legal formLicence holder
GroupDeltec International Group (per public reporting)
Websitedeltecbank.com
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PPLI.com
Private Bank Rating
1 out of 5 stars

A significant matter has been reported and we are checking it with the original source. Until it is resolved, the rating stands at one star.

Editorial assessment on UHNW criteria
Reviewed 6 November 2026 · Q4 2026 edition
Updated every quarter
Rating signed byNoam CohenEditor, Bank Intelligence
About the rating
1 out of 5, Q4 2026 edition
Not publishedpricing on request
1matter on the record, 2024
Not publishedminimum relationship
The editor's opinion

Why Deltec has one star

Deltec shows one star while a significant matter is checked with the original source. What holds the rating down: no fee schedule is published; pricing is given on request. No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions. In its favour: no final adverse finding against this licence holder in ten years of regulatory and court records. A matter is open with the authorities and carries no weight until it is decided. Not yet documented: how the law protects custody assets in this centre and deposit protection for this booking unit. The rating counts only what is on file.

Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026, Q4 2026 edition. The rating weighs the public record together with what clients and their advisers tell us in confidence; retail products, branches and apps play no part.

Where Deltec stands out

  • No final adverse finding against this licence holder in ten years of regulatory and court records.
  • A broad range of private banking services is published for this booking unit.
  • No politically exposed person holds a significant stake.

What to weigh

  • One matter is still open with the authorities and not decided. It carries no weight in the rating until it is decided.
  • No fee schedule is published; pricing is given on request.
  • No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions.
  • Ownership is only partly public.
  • Legal protection of custody assets in this centre is still to be documented here.
  • Whether deposits at this unit fall under a protection scheme is not yet documented.
PPLI.com rating

A significant matter has been reported and we are checking it with the original source. Until it is resolved, the rating stands at one star.

The rating expresses the opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown. It is not a statement of fact about the bank, not a credit rating, not a forecast of failure and not investment advice.

The record

Regulatory and legal record

What regulators, prosecutors and courts have decided, recorded against the legal entity they named, with the status, the amounts as published and a link to the original document. Claims and investigations still under way are marked as open.

20242 April 2024

Class action by former FTX clients alleging the bank helped FTX sidestep Bahamian law and KYC checks

Former FTX clients are suing Deltec Bank & Trust Limited and its chairman Jean Chalopin in a class action before a south Florida federal court, alleging that the bank helped FTX sidestep Bahamian law and KYC guidelines and gave Alameda Research an undisclosed credit line of up to USD 2 billion. The bank denies the claims and on 2 April 2024 moved to dismiss the second amended complaint, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction and that the case belongs in The Bahamas, and no ruling on that motion has been reported.

a south Florida federal court (as printed in the cited article; the MDL number, docket number and judge are not printed there)Allegation or claimOpen matter, not decidedPrimary source
Clients and standing

Client experience and financial standing

What clients meet at Deltec, read from complaint registers, ombudsman decisions and court records, independent reporting and what clients and their advisers tell PPLI.com in confidence. Announcements by the bank, awards and marketing material are left out.

UHNW client ratings

1.8 out of 5, based on 14 client ratings for this booking centre.

What clients report

The class action in Florida was brought by former clients of FTX, not of the bank, and remains undecided. The bank sold its private client banking and fiduciary business, described as virtually all of its business lines, to Britannia Bank & Trust. The Tribune reported the sale complete on 2 January 2025, with client accounts transferred automatically at no cost and the same relationship managers as primary contacts.

Worth raising with the bank

  • Ask what business, licences and client accounts the bank still holds after selling virtually all of its business lines to Britannia Bank & Trust in January 2025, and which entity now holds your assets.
  • Ask whether the Central Bank of The Bahamas opened any review of the bank's dealings with FTX and Alameda Research, and with what result.

In the press

What it costs

What Deltec charges

Deltec does not publish its private banking fees. We searched its website on 6 November 2026 for a fee schedule, a tariff or a pricing page. We read its legal, documents and client information pages and searched the site in each language it uses. 96 of the 151 banks we cover publish theirs. A family cannot see what a relationship with Deltec would cost before asking, so the cost transparency element of the PPLI.com rating gives Deltec no credit for a published schedule, and the bank cannot be placed in our fee comparison. If Deltec publishes a schedule, we will read it and add it in the next edition.

Pricing not published

Banks that publish their fees, and how they compare, are listed on the comparison page. If you hold a proposal from Deltec, our editors can place it against the published fees of other banks in confidence: write to [email protected].

The bank at a glance

Identity, protection and services

Legal identity

Legal nameDeltec Bank & Trust Limited
LEI549300XODLMRWA0FPI29
LicenceBank and trust licence: SFI list entry 'LIC0098 Deltec Bank & Trust Ltd. Resident Bank & Trust Authorized researcher'; also listed as a Registered Representative licensee  Source
RegulatorCentral Bank of The Bahamas; Securities Commission of The Bahamas (per bank site)
Legal formLicence holder
OwnerSet out under Ownership

Ownership

Group parentDeltec International Group  Source
ControlJean Chalopin (largest shareholder; stake not disclosed); controlled by a single owner  Source

Ownership is shown as published, with its date. It describes who owns the bank; it does not, by itself, suggest any wrongdoing by the bank or its owners.

Financial strength, as reported

Credit ratingsNot yet on file
Capital ratioNot yet on file
Total assetsUSD 1.3 billion (31 Dec 2022)
Shareholders' equityUSD 179.8 million (31 Dec 2022)

Figures for Deltec Bank & Trust Limited and subsidiaries. Sources: Deltec Bank & Trust - Independent Auditor's Report and consolidated statement of financial position, 31 Dec 2022; Deltec Bank & Trust - Transparency FAQ.

Services published for this booking unit

Private clients
Discretionary management
Advisory mandates
Custody only (execution and safekeeping)
Lombard lending
Mortgage lending
Multi currency accounts
Trust and fiduciary services
Family office services
Wealth planning
Consolidated reporting
External asset manager desk

Offered at this booking centreOffered by the group, not confirmed hereNot located, which does not mean unavailable
Checked on the bank's own pages, 2 November 2026.

Access and costs

Minimum relationshipNot published
US personsNot published
Fee scheduleNot published
Third party paymentsNot published
Transfer out termsNot published

Protection of client assets

Deposit protectionNot published
Custody lawNot published
Custody termsNot published

Before opening an account

  • Custody agreement. Ask for the agreement covering the account you would open. Which entity holds the securities, what law governs the account, and where would the assets be held if a sub-custodian is used?
  • A portfolio-backed credit line. If you intend to borrow against the portfolio, ask for the eligibility and haircut schedule, the margin-call timetable and the charges for holding or transferring pledged securities.
  • Transferring assets out. Ask which positions can be transferred without selling them, who approves exceptions, and how charges are calculated for each position and market.
Your experience

Rate Deltec

If you bank with Deltec or advise clients who do, your experience forms part of its PPLI.com rating. Every response is read by the editor and treated in strict confidence.

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Our commitment to confidentiality

Your name, email and telephone number are seen only by the PPLI.com editor. They are never published, never passed to Deltec or any other bank, and never used for marketing. We may contact you once to clarify your assessment. Once verified by our editors, your assessment can lead to a disclosed adjustment of this bank's PPLI.com rating. It is never published with your name.

Sources

All 12 documents cited on this page, by subject.

Regulatory and legal record

  1. a south Florida federal court (as printed in the cited article; the MDL number, docket number and judge are not printed there): Class action by former FTX clients alleging the bank helped FTX sidestep Bahamian law and KYC checks, 2 April 2024tribune242.com

Client experience and press

  1. The Tribune (Bahamas): Brittania finalises acquisition of Deltec private client banking, 2 January 2025tribune242.com
  2. Protos: Britannia buys operations of fellow Tether bank Deltec, 27 September 2024protos.com
  3. The Nassau Guardian: Britannia acquires Deltec line of business, 26 September 2024thenassauguardian.com
  4. The Tribune (Bahamas): Deltec's 'secret' $2bn credit line for FTX ally, 19 February 2024tribune242.com

Identity, ownership, finances and services

  1. Central Bank of The Bahamas: Supervised Financial Institutions List 1791569626 CZpce4 (PDF)cdn.centralbankbahamas.com · Licence
  2. en.wikipedia.org: Jean Chalopinen.wikipedia.org · Group parent
  3. offshorealert.com: Jean chalopinoffshorealert.com · Control
  4. Deltec Bank & Trust - Independent Auditor's Report and consolidated statement of financial position, 31 Dec 2022deltecbank.com · Financial strength
  5. Deltec Bank & Trust - Transparency FAQdeltecbank.com · Financial strength
  6. Deltec: Private bankingdeltecbank.com · Services

The bank

  1. Deltec, websitedeltecbank.com

For Deltec

Before we publish a significant negative finding that is not already public, we give the bank the facts and time to comment, on the same timetable for every bank. Decisions of regulators and courts are shown as they were published. Corrections we verify are published with the date of the change. Write to [email protected] quoting reference BK-BS-DELTEC-97A35A.

Reviewing this file with us

Families and their advisers read this file before they open an account. It can only be as complete as the documents we can find, and much of what sets a private bank apart, from its custody terms to the way a client team works, is rarely published.

If you represent Deltec, one of our Bank Intelligence analysts can go through the file with you: correct anything that is out of date, add terms and documents that are not yet public, and set out what has improved since our last edition. The review is a paid engagement for the analyst's time and research.

The rating itself stays with our editor and follows what the documents show, so we cannot promise a particular result. When a review changes the file, this page notes that the bank took part, with the date and what was added.

Speak to an analyst

About this file

Researched by the PPLI.com research desk from the public sources listed. The rating is our editorial opinion; read how we rate.

Important information. Editorial opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown, based on public information, client experience and editorial judgment. Not a statement of fact, a credit rating or investment, legal, tax or financial advice; verify with the bank and your own advisers before acting. No liability is accepted for reliance on this content. Bank names and logos are used for identification only. Ratings are updated every quarter. This is the Q4 2026 edition, and a rating can change between editions if something material happens. Full disclaimer
Rating signed by Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026Methodology 2.4Reference BK-BS-DELTEC-97A35A
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