About us

BRED Bank Solomon is part of the second largest banking group in France, ‘Banque Populaire’ and among the top 10 in Europe.

In the Pacific, BRED Bank has also outlets in New Caledonia, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Fiji…and it’s only a start!

Situated at Kukum Highway and the Commonwealth Street, BRED Bank is located in the heart of Honiara’s business community. We offer you a modern, friendly and comfortable environment for all your banking needs. At BRED Bank we strive to offer you a full range of quality products with the highest level of professional service. From individual clients to large corporations, BRED Bank has a banking service to suit everyone.

Meet the team

Owen Thomson

Chief Executive Officer

Owen, CEO of BRED Bank Solomon, joined BRED Bank Group in 2016 to start the subsidiary in Solomon Islands. He has over 35 years in the banking industry with more than 20 years in the South Pacific, including 11 years in Solomon Islands. Results - orientated executive with a strong background in management, business development, finance and retail banking. Owen has completed over 40 Bank Internal Training courses between 1982 to 2021 and attended the Executive Management Program conducted by HEC Paris(#1 French Business School). He recently participated in the Directorship Program from the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. Owen has a passion to assist Solomon Islands fulfill its huge potential.

Arnaud Baylac

Chief Operations Officer

Arnaud recently joined BRED Bank Solomon as Chief Operations Officer in late 2023. Prior to his posting to BRED Bank Solomon, Arnaud had been employed at BRED Headquarters also known as BRED Banque Populaire in Paris. His extensive background in the Finance and Banking sector dates back to 2005. As Chief Operating Officer, Arnaud oversees the greatest number of departments within the bank including Finance, Operations, Lending, Electronic Banking Systems, and the International Department. Arnaud is excited to be working in the Solomons and looks forward to forging new relationships with BRED Bank Solomon customers and the people of Solomon Islands in general.

Lepani Makubuna

Head of Business

Lepani joined BRED Bank Solomon in January 2020 as Head of Business. He has over 25 years of experience within the Banking and Lending Institutions namely Fiji Development Bank, Merchant Bank, ANZ Pacific Operations, and Westpac. He last worked as Manager Credit and Area Manager East Commecial Banking for ANZ and Westpac respectively. Given his 20 years of Management and Leadership exposure, and having both frontline and back office experiences, Lepani knows what it takes to develop and engage a team to deliver exceptional customer experience, and acieve the desired company goals at the same time.

Naveen Perera

Head of Treasury

Naveen Perera, Head of Treasury joined Bred Solomon in October 2022. He engages in managing corporate Foreign Exchange Risk & Relationships in Bred Bank Solomon.

His expertise knowledge in the Treasury area spans over 15 Years with three leading Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka. During that period he was engaged in numerous operational roles which cover the entire Treasury Business namely, Treasury Front Office, Back Office and Middle Office (Market Risk). Also he has gained the required Technical, Theoretical and Procedural knowledge in a comprehensive manner in order to perform and deliver results strongly. Naveen as the Head of Treasury is responsible to manage Corporate Liquidity,Investments,Corporate Foreign Exchange Risk and International Fund flow.

Rose Abana

Kukum Branch manager

Rose is the Banch Manager at the Kukum Branch. She joined BRED Bank Solomon in November 2016. Having started her banking career straight after leaving high school in 1985, Rose has over 36 years of banking experience. Her key area in banking is Retail Banking where she deals with various customers, from on boarding of new clients, managing client issues with more focus on customer service, and ensuring customer issues are resolved promptly. As Branch Manager, Rose is responsible for Branch Operations Management, Staff & Resource Management, and Customer Service Management at branch level.

Jessica Silas

Pt. Cruz Branch Manager

Jessica, Point Cruz Branch manager has over 13 years of experience in the banking industry. She provides leadership to the Point Cruz Branch back-office operations and customer service functions ensuring an effective branch‘s administration and daily operation, as well as branch security and safety in accordance with BRED Bank Solomon’s key objectives. Jessica joined BRED Bank Solomon in January 2018. She has a diploma in Accounting and Management at Fulton Adventist College in Fiji. Jessica’s top priority is a quality customer service - making sure customers & staff are satisfied & happy at the end of the day.

Crayford Laura

Senior Relationship Manager

Crayford joined BRED Bank Solomon team before its opening in 2017 as Senior Relationship Manager. He has more than 15 years of experience in the banking sector, and has worked in various departments such as sales, collections, asset management, and relationship banking. Over the years, he has established good working relationships with local companies and has an in-depth knowledge of the country’s industries and network. Winning new customers while meeting the expectations of existing customers is one of his priorities.

Mostyn Prana

Senior Relationship Manager

Mostyn joined BRED Bank Solomon as Senior Relationship Manager, when the bank first started. He has over 15 years experience in the Banking and Finance sector, and has specialised in the relationship management of Corporate and Commercial clients. Working with the Business Banking team, Mostyn is mindful, first and foremost of the customers’ needs, wants, aspirations and expectations of their bank. He strives to bring you exceptional customer service and offer you possible advices, and funding assistance through loans for your business banking, development and investment needs.

BRED Group

BRED is a cooperative Banque Populaire, supported by its 200,000 members and 4.4 billion euros of equity (≈ $39 billion SBD).

The BRED Group has 5,600 employees, 25% of which are located outside France and in French overseas collectivities, offering services in retail banking, corporate banking, private banking, asset management, securities trading, an insurance company and international banking via its subsidiaries and international trade.

Its core business is commercial banking in France (in the Greater Paris Region, Aisne and Normandy, and in multiple French overseas territories including La Réunion, Mayotte, Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana) and French Overseas Collectivities, where it pursues targeted growth in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti), Oceania (New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji) and in Asia (Laos and Cambodia).

It also has representation offices in Myanmar and Ethiopia, in addition to equity interests in a number of banks in these various regions of the world.

A local bank committed to its communities, in France it has a network of 322 local branches (including 81 in French overseas territories), 16 business centres (including 5 overseas), 13 asset management centres (including 3 overseas) and a wealth management division.

BRED maintains long-term relationships with more than one million customers: retail customers, tradespeople, shopkeepers, professionals, high net worth clients, SMEs, midcaps, large companies and institutions. In addition to loans, investments and day-to-day banking, it offers all of its customers the products and services provided by its trading desk, insurance company and asset management company, in addition to those offered by the specialist subsidiaries of the BPCE Group.

BRED continued to grow with a consolidated Net Banking Income of €1,2 billion in 2018 (≈ $10,5 billion SBD) , a new record. Excluding extraordinary items, NBI growth stands at 4.6%.

New Customers

New customers must complete the Individual Account Onboarding Form and the Individual Account Opening Form.