The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that a government debt default in Barbados has put Canadian banks at risk of write-offs, with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce particularly exposed to the Caribbean country's troubled finances through loans and securities worth about $500-million (U.S.). The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that three Canadian banks -- CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia -- are by far the largest lenders in the Caribbean, and each has wrestled with a weak regional economy since the 2008 global financial crisis. The banks' woes started to dissipate in the past three years, owing to a mild economic recovery and intense cost-cutting campaigns, but they re-emerged this week after Barbados missed an interest payment on external debt. The government has also requested assistance from the International Monetary Fund. The default not only portends a weak economy for years to come, limiting bank revenue growth, but also directly affects the lenders' balance sheets. As Barbados's finances suffered over the past few years, the country required banks to hold more of their reserves in government-issued securities, to fund the deficit. As of January, the requirement is 20 per cent.