John Beale was appointed ambassador of Barbados to the United States on Jan. 29, 2009, replacing Michael Ian King, who had served in the post since 2000. Unlike King, who had thirty years’ experience in the Barbadian Foreign Service, Beale is a businessman with little diplomatic background. Beale worked for 26 years in international banking and project financing, including 11 years in the Chase Manhattan Bank network, three and a half years at Banco Internacional, three years at RBTT Bank Barbados Ltd., and more than eight years at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank. His positions have included investment officer with the Business Advisory Service of the IFC (1987-1995); divisional executive chairman of Barbados Shipping and Trading Co. (BS&T) and director of BS&T and Neal & Massy (1995-2004); and President and CEO of RBTT Barbados Ltd. (2004-2009), a leading pan-Caribbean banking group with assets of $7 billion. Beale also served as honorary consul in Rio de Janeiro and Uruguay, as well as head of the Barbados Private Sector Trade Team from 2003 to 2007. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Marietta College in Ohio, and a Master of Business Administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. He speaks English, Portuguese and some Spanish, and is married with three children.