Chief executive officer of NCB Merchant Bank (Trinidad and Tobago Ltd) Marli Creese has resigned from the company.He submitted his resignation on June 30, with his last day with the organisation being yesterday, the bank said in a release yesterday.It did not give any reasoning for his resignation.Creese’s resignation comes almost a month after an investigation was launched by T&T authorities into the seizure of a white crocus bag containing US$2 million in cash at the South Terminal of the Piarco International Airport on June 25.The T&T Police Service is continuing its investigation.The money originated from NCB Merchant Bank (NCBMBTT) and was scheduled to be transported by aircraft to Miami, with a stopover in Jamaica.However, it was seized following an inspection by Customs and Excise officials, who red-flagged the transaction, citing “certain transactional and accountability deficiencies”.Creese had confirmed that the US$2 million seized by Customs and Excise officials belonged to the bank on July 2.According to the bank, the cash formed part of a legitimate inter-institutional transaction and was intended to transit within the NCB Group under established business.In its release yesterday, the bank said it appointed Mahalia Alleyne as acting CEO, effective August 1.“Ms Alleyne is currently Head of Operations, brings deep institutional knowledge of the bank’s operations, customers, people, and risk environment. Her appointment provides continuity of leadership and supports the NCBMBTT’s ongoing commitment to stable, responsible, and well-governed operations,” the merchant bank stated.It added that the board will undertake the appropriate process to identify and appoint its next CEO.Commenting on the transition, interim CEO of National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd Sheree Martin said, “Mahalia is a respected leader who understands our organisation, our people, our customers, and the operating environment in which we serve. Her appointment reflects the strength of our internal leadership capacity and ensures continuity during this transition period.“On behalf of the NCB banking group, we thank Marli for his service and contribution to NCB Merchant Bank (Trinidad and Tobago) Ltd, and we wish him every success in his next chapter. Our focus remains firmly on maintaining stakeholder confidence, supporting our customers and employees, and upholding the standards of governance, service, and professionalism known to the organisation.”The bank said the transition will have no impact on customer accounts, services, relationship management, or day-to-day operations.Customers should continue to engage their relationship managers and the organisation’s usual service channels.“NCB Merchant Bank (T&T) Ltd remains committed to strong governance, regulatory cooperation, operational continuity, and maintaining the confidence of its customers, employees, regulators, and the wider public,” the release stated.A Central Bank official indicated an investigation had commenced and that a meeting was held with Customs officials in early July.It said later it was preparing to strengthen oversight of cross-border cash shipments and foreign exchange reporting under planned reforms to the Exchange Control Act.The bank made the disclosure after public questions arose about the export of US currency following a probe into a US$2 million shipment that was seized by Customs and Excise officials.While declining to comment on the specific circumstances of the case, the Central Bank said the matter remained under investigation.At the same time, it defended its management of the country’s foreign exchange system while acknowledging improvements are needed.“The Bank recognises that there are many areas of the management of the system that need to be strengthened and a number of initiatives will be rolled out in the coming months. This includes updating the Exchange Control Act,” it stated.Reached briefly yesterday, Central Bank Governor Larry Howai said he had no information on Creese’s resignation and had “nothing to share at this stage” about the investigation.