Scotiabank

The Bank of Nova Scotia (French: Banque de la Nouvelle-Écosse), commonly known as Scotiabank (French: Banque Scotia), is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization. It serves some 19 million customers in more than 55 countries around the world and offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $575 billion, Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (Toronto:BNS.TO) and New York Exchanges (Toronto:BNS.TO).

The bank was incorpoated by the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia on Mar 30, 1831, in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, with William Lawson (1772–1848) serving as the first president.^[2] The bank moved its executive offices to Toronto, Ontario, in March 1900.^[3][4] Scotiabank has billed itself as "Canada's International Bank" due to its acquisitions primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean, but also in Europe and India as well. BNS Institution Number (or bank number) is 002.

The company ranked at number 92 on the Forbes Global 2000 listing in 2008^[5] and is currently under the leadership of Richard E. Waugh who serves both in the capacity of President and CEO.

History and expansion

The 19th century

Scotiabank was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1832 under the name of the Bank of Nova Scotia. The bank's vision was to facilitate the trans-Atlantic trade of the time.^[6] Later, in 1833, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired The Union Bank of Prince Edward Island,^[7] although most of the bank's expansion efforts in the century took the form of branch openings.

The bank launched its branch banking system by opening in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The expansion was limited to the Maritimes until 1882, when the bank moved west by opening a branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Manitoba branch later closed but the bank continued to expand into the American Midwest. This included opening a branch in Minneapolis in 1885 which later transferred to Chicago in 1892. Following the collapse of the Newfoundland Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of Newfoundland on Dec 10, 1894; the Bank of Nova Scotia established on Jan 31, 1895, in Newfoundland,^[2]

In 1899, the bank opened a branch in Boston, Massachusetts.

In the meantime, the bank opened a branch in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1889 to facilitate the trading of sugar, rum and fish. This was Scotiabank's first move into the Caribbean and historically the first branch of a Canadian bank opened outside of the United States or the United Kingdom.^[6][7] By the end of the 19th century, the bank was represented in all of the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

In 1900, the bank's headquarters were moved to Toronto, Ontario.^[7]

The 20th century

The bank continued to expand in the 20th century, although its growth now took the form of acquisitions rather than branch openings.

• 1906 – The bank opened a branch in Havana, Cuba. By 1931, it had three branches in Havana, and one branch each in Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Manzanillo, and Santiago de Cuba. The bank was nationalized in 1959, becoming Banco Central de Cuba (Havana branch was changed to Banco Metropolitano – Metropolitan Bank – in 1996).
• 1907 – The bank opened an agency in New York.
• 1910 – The bank opened a branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and later another one in Fajardo.
• 1912 – Bank of Nova Scotia merged with the Bank of New Brunswick.^[7]
• 1914 – Toronto-based Metropolitan Bank was acquired, making Scotiabank the fourth largest financial institution in Canada.^[7]
• 1919 – Bank of Ottawa was amalgamated.^[7]
• 1920 – The bank opened a branch in London, UK, and another one in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• 1960 – Fidel Castro's cuban government purchased the Cuban branches of the Bank of Nova Scotia on December 1, 1960.^[2]
• 1962 – The bank became the first Canadian Bank to appoint women bank managers on Jan 15, 1962.^[2]
• 1978 – The bank and Canadian Union of Public Employees signed the first collective agreement between a Canadian bank and a union on Sept 28, 1978, in Toronto^[2]
• 1981 – The bank expanded into Asia with the opening of a branch in Japan.^[7]
• 2000 – Scotiabank's stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat is increased to 55 percent. The Mexican bank is subsequently renamed to Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Inverlat.^[7]
• 2003 -The bank's Guangzhou Branch was awarded the first licence to a Canadian bank by the Chinese government to deal in Chinese currency.^[2]
• 2003–2004 – The bank acquired Inverlat banking house in Mexico, taking over all of its branches and establishing strong presence in the country.
• 2010 – The bank arrived in Bogotá, Colombia.

In its early expansion, the bank clearly followed trade and its customers' businesses rather than pursuing a strategy of expansion into international financial centres.

Scotiabank is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM cards or check cards at certain other banks within the Global ATM Alliance without fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), Bank of America (United States), BNP Paribas (France and Ukraine through UkrSibbank), Deutsche Bank (Germany), and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand).^[8]

Portfolio evolution

Throughout the 20th century, the bank grew not only in size, but also in breadth of products and services. Progress was conditioned by changing consumer needs, legal changes, or acquisitions of external service providers. A short list follows:^[7]

• 1954 – Passage of the National Housing Act lead Scotiabank to create a mortgage department.
• 1958 – Changes to Bank Act of 1954 enabled Scotiabank to introduce a consumer credit program.
• 1987 – Scotia Securities is formed to provide discount brokerage and security underwriting services.
• 1988 – Brokerage firm McLeod Young Weir Ltd. is acquired.
• 1994 – Scotiabank acquires Montreal Trustco Inc.
• 1997 – National Trustco Inc. is acquired for C$1.25 billion.

Mergers

The bank has amalgamated with several other Canadian financial institutions through the years:^[4][9]

Many former branches of Montreal Trust and National Trust were rebranded "Scotiabank & Trust", and continue to operate as such.

Operating units

Scotiabank has four divisions:

• Canadian Banking is the commercial banking division, offering savings and loan services. It includes 1009 branches, 2,750 ABMs, and three call centres. It offers telephone, wireless and Internet banking. Their brokerage unit is called the Wealth Management Group.
• Scotia Capital Inc. is the investment banking division, which helps large corporations, institutions, and governments obtain capital and credit. The Canadian investment banking division is known as ScotiaMcLeod and was formerly known as McLeod Young Weir Co. & Ltd., a company started by four young entrepreneurs: Donald Ivan McLeod, William Ewart Young, James Gordon Weir, and John Henry Ratcliffe. Metals trading is done under the name of ScotiaMocatta. Scotia Waterous is the well-regarded M&A division that operates exclusively within the oil and gas industry.
• International Banking is the merchant banking division, assisting its customers with international trade. Scotiabank's marketing material claims it is the leading provider of financial services in the Caribbean, and that it has the broadest Asian network of any Canadian bank.
• e-Commerce/e-Banking at Scotiabank manages wire transfers and payments.

Scotiabank sells insurance products via its brand subsidiary – ScotiaLife Financial. Most of the life insurance policies sold this way are underwritten by Scotia Life Insurance Company.^[10]

As of 2009, Scotiabank services over 12.5 million customers and has over $500 billion in assets. The bank employs over 69,000 employees all over the globe including: Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Scotiabank is Canada's most international bank with over 2,000 branches in some 50 countries. As in the past, in 2009 some of the top management at Scotiabank announced a plan that the bank would once again play a part in general infrastructural development in the countries where it operates.^[11]

Corporate sponsorship and branding

Sports

• Scotiabank is now the title sponsor of Guadalajara's Scotiabank Aquatics Center
• Scotiabank is now the title sponsor for the Jewish National Fund's "Pitch for Israel" event.
• Scotiabank is now the title sponsor of Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome as of October 8, 2010
• Scotiabank currently is the title sponsor for running events that are part of the Canada Running Series: Scotiabank Montreal 21k & 5k (April), Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k Run/Walk (June) & Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half-Marathon & 5k (September) and the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon.^[12] As well it is the title sponsor for the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon.
• As of October 2007, Scotiabank became a sponsor of CBC Television's Hockey Night in Canada, and the title sponsor of its Gemini award winning pregame show, Scotiabank Hockey Tonight.^[13]
• Scotiabank also is currently the Official Bank of the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association.^[14] And the official bank of the NHLPA, the NHL Alumni, the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Additionally, Scotiabank sponsors the Little NHL (native hockey league) and several girl's hockey festivals across Canada.
• Currently has the naming rights to the arena of the Ottawa Senators, branding it Scotiabank Place.
• Scotiabank can be seen as a primary sponsor for Champion Boxer Miguel Cotto during his 2009 bout with Manny Pacquiao
• In 2006 Scotiabank was awarded the title as the official bank for the ICC's 2007 Cricket World Cup. During the event, several stadia and venues across the Caribbean (and Guyana in South America) are to become outfited with Scotiabank automated banking machines.^[15]
• Since 2005, Scotiabank has been the title sponsor of the CFL playoffs semi-final and conference final games, with games titled as the Scotiabank East Semi-Finals and Scotiabank West Semi-Finals. This is in addition to being the official financial services provider to the Canadian Football League.
• Since 2008, Scotiabank has been the official team sponsor of Canadian Cricket Team and the title sponsor of National T20 Championship in Canada.
• In 2010, Scotiabank was a sponsor of the World Rally Championship's Corona Rally Mexico.

Culture

• In 2007, Scotiabank and Cineplex Entertainment partnered up to create a loyalty rewards program called SCENE. The program allows patrons to sign-up for a special card that grants them points which can be redeemed for free movies or concession discounts. Scotiabank customers can also request for a SCENE debit card which gives them points when used. A SCENE VISA card was also launched in early May. In addition, 5 Cineplex Entertainment locations were rebranded as "Scotiabank Theatres".^[16]
• From 2007 to 2010, Scotiabank has been the title sponsor of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche event in Toronto. [5]
• Title sponsor, Scotiabank Giller Prize.^[17]
• Scotiabank Hall of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.
• Scotiabank Hall in the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia
• In 2011, Scotiabank became the title sponsor of Toronto's Caribana now known as the Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto.

Recent events

• On November 6, 2006, two homemade bombs were placed within Scotiabank branches in Mexico City. One exploded, resulting in no deaths, while a second bomb was de-activated. Authorities were previously alerted to the presence of the bombs. A coalition of five leftist guerilla groups which support (but had no known connections to) protests in Oaxaca claimed responsibility.^[18]
• In December, 2006 Scotiabank announced it successfully acquired majority control of the fourth largest Jamaica-based Securities dealer Dehring Bunting & Golding Ltd. (DB&G) ending weeks of speculation about the bid on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The deal is expected to cost the Bank of Nova Scotia and its Jamaican subsidiary between C$80 – $90 Million dollars to close the deal.^{[19][20][21][22]}
• On August 31, 2007 Scotiabank announced it has signed agreements to purchase 79 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo, Chile's seventh largest bank for US$810 million. These agreements are the first stage in a plan to purchase up to 100 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo. Scotiabank will be making a public share offering on the same terms and expects to acquire up to 100 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo, which would be valued at US$1.03 billion.
• In July 2008, E*TRADE sold its Canadian division to Scotiabank for CAN$444 million, as part of a program of selling off non-core assets.^[23][24] Scotiabank is investigating the expansion of the E*Trade service to their Caribbean markets as well.^[25]
• In October 2008 Scotiabank was considered one of the front-runners to buy Cleveland-based National City Corp. and re-enter the United States market, alongside Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services and Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp.^[26][27] Many local citizens in Cleveland considered Scotiabank as the best option, due to their longstanding absence from the U.S. market, which would've allowed most of National City's operations to stay in Cleveland. Scotiabank, however, backed out of the deal, and PNC would acquire National City with TARP funds on October 24, 2008 after National City became a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis.
• In 2010 a panel for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruled that Scotiabank as the sponsors of the Caribana festival, did not have grounds for being awarded the domain name caribana.com from its current owners Working Word Co-operative.^[28]
• In 2010, Scotiabank acquired the assets of R & G Financial Corporation, a failed Puerto Rican bank.
• Soon after Canadian regulators gave the go ahead for Canadian banks to begin mergers and acquisitions, Scotiabank announced it would takeover Commerzbank AG's Brazilian wholesale banking unit. This information was released on September 16, 2010.
• Scotiabank announced on September 27, 2010, that they would be purchasing Royal Bank of Scotland's Chilean wholesale banking unit worth around $900 million in assets.
• On December 2010, Scotiabank continues to expand its presence in Latin America acquiring the Uruguayan Nuevo Banco Comercial, becoming the first Canadian bank with presence in the country^[29][30]
• On October 20, 2011, Scotiabank acquired a 51% stake in Banco Colpatria, Colombia's fifth largest bank and second largest issuer of credit cards for the tune of 1 Billion Canadian in Cash and stock (10 million shares). It is the second largest foreign transaction ever by a Canadian financial company overseas, behind Royal Bank of Canada's purchase in Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.^[31]

Awards

• 2005 – "Bank of the Year" – For Mexico, the Caribbean and in Jamaica by LatinFinance.^[32]
• 2007 – "Bank of the Year" The Banker Magazine – London England, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Belize, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos
• 2008 – "Bank of the Year" The Banker Magazine – London England, Scotiabank Barbados, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Guyana, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos
• 2009 – "Bank of the Year" The Banker Magazine – London England, Scotiabank Canada, Scotiabank Barbados,Scotiabank Dominican Republic, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos
• 2010 – "Bank of the Year" The Banker Magazine – London England, Scotiabank Barbados, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos
• 2011 – "Best Emerging Market Bank" Global Finance Magazine – New York, Scotiabank Jamaica, Scotiabank Barbados, Scotiabank Costa Rica, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Scotiabank are:^[33] Ronald A. Brenneman, C.J. Chen, N. Ashleigh Everett, John Kerr, Michael Kirby, Laurent Lemaire, John T. Mayberry, Thomas O'Neill, Elizabeth Parr-Johnston, Alexis Rovzar de la Torre, Indira Samarasekera, Arthur Scace, Allan Shaw, Paul Sobey, Barbara Thomas, and Richard E. Waugh.

Former members of the board include: Peter Godsoe (former President and CEO of Scotiabank) and Cedric Ritchie (Former Chairman).

Unionization

Scotiabank has unionized relationships with employees in a number of locations around the world.^[34] In Canada, the sole unionized workplace is the domestic banking branch in Deep River, Ontario.

Membership

BNS is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks. It is also a member of:

• Interac
• VISA International
• MasterCard in the Caribbean markets
• Plus Network for VISA card users
• NYCE ATM Network
• CarIFS ATM Network
• LINX network ATM network^[35]
• MultiLink Network ATM network [6]
• MAGNA Rewards as part of the Scotiabank MAGNA MasterCard.
• Global ATM Alliance

Branch locations

Canada

• All provinces
• Northwest Territories
• Yukon

International

• Anguilla
• Antigua & Barbados
• Aruba
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Brazil
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Chile
• Colombia
• China
• Costa Rica
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Hong Kong
• India
• Ireland
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Republic of Korea
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Netherlands Antilles
• Panama
• Peru
• Puerto Rico
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Turkey
• Turks & Caicos
• US Virgin Islands
• U.K
• United States
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

Sources

Bank of Nova Scotia. 1932. The Bank of Nova Scotia, 1831–1932. Halifax: Bank of Nova Scotia.

The Scotiabank Story: A History of the Bank of Nova Scotia, 1832–1982. by Joseph Schull

See also

• ScotiaLife Financial
• List of banks in Canada
• Scotia
• Scottish-Canadian
• Scotia Place
• Scotia Plaza
• Scotiabank Place
• Scotiabank Saddledome

References

External links

• Official website