Scotiabank , formally known as The Bank of Nova Scotia, is one of Canada's Big Six banks. It is the third largest bank in Canada, behind Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank. Scotiabank is Canada's most international bank with more than 2,000 branch locations in over 50 countries¹.

History

Founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1832, the Bank launched its branch banking system by opening in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The expansion was limited to the Maritime Provinces until 1882, when the Bank moved west by opening a branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Manitoba branch later closed, however, the experience of doing business in a grain-town encouraged the Bank to expand into the American Midwest, including Minneapolis and Chicago.

By 1900, The Bank of Nova Scotia had opened 38 branches across Canada, the United States and Jamaica. In Canada, the Bank was represented in all of the Maritime Provinces, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. The Bank of Nova Scotia was the first Canadian bank to establish in Newfoundland -- 55 years before it joined Confederation.

Mergers

The Bank has amalgamated with several other Canadian financial institutions through the years:

Operating Units

Scotiabank has four core businesses:

• Domestic Banking - Domestic Banking provides a broad range of banking products and services to households and businesses across Canada. These services are offered through a national network of more than 960 branches and commercial and business banking centres, close to 2,400 ABMs, 4 call centres, plus telephone, wireless and Internet banking. The Wealth Management Group -- which incorporates the key personal investment and advisory activities within the Scotiabank Group -- offers a comprehensive range of products and services. These encompass retail brokerage, mutual funds, and private client services (including personal trust, money management and private banking).²

• Scotia Capital Inc. - Scotia Capital manages the Bank's global relationships with large corporate, institutional and government clients, marketing the full capabilities of the Scotiabank Group to these clients. Scotia Capital has recognized strengths in specialized and syndicated lending, corporate debt and equity underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, fixed income and institutional equities sales and trading, foreign exchange, derivatives and precious metals products and services. ScotiaMocatta, the Bank's precious metals business, is a global leader in metals trading and finance.²

• International Banking - Providing retail, commercial, corporate and trade finance services to clients around the world through branches, agencies, representative offices, subsidiaries and affiliates. Scotiabank is the leading provider of financial services in the Caribbean, has the broadest Asian network of any Canadian bank, and is active in the Latin American market through subsidiaries in Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico, and affiliates in Peru and Venezuela.²

• e-Commerce/e-Banking at Scotiabank - Scotiabank is committed to developing the latest technologies available in the marketplace today to offer Canadians anytime anywhere access to their financial services using the method of their choice. Canadian consumers are aggressive users of new technologies. Scotiabank has launched a number of Canadian "firsts." Among these are Scotia Web-Wire, which allows businesses to send and receive wire payments over the Web. It also provides companies with the ability to do LVTS (Large-Value-Transfer-System) payments; Scotiabank is the first bank in Canada to offer this service.²

Today, Scotiabank services over 10 million customers and has over 286 billion dollars in assets. The bank employs over 49,000 employees all over the globe including Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Scotiabank is considered to be Canada's most international bank with over 2000 branches in 50 countries.

Executive Officers

• Richard E. Waugh, President and Chief Executive Officer
• Robert W. Chisholm, Vice-Chairman, Scotiabank, and President and CEO, Domestic Banking and Wealth Management
• W. David Wilson, Vice-Chairman Scotiabank and Chairman and CEO, Scotia Capital
• Robert L. Brooks, Senior Executive Vice-President, Treasury and Operations
• Sarabjit S. Marwah, Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
• Deborah M. Alexander, Executive Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary
• Tim Hayward, Executive Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer International Banking
• Luc A. Vanneste, Executive Vice-President and Chief Auditor

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
• Plus Network for VISA card users
• NYCE ATM Network

External links

• Official site
• Scotiabank Annual Reports
• Montreal Trust Company of Canada and National Trust
• Scotiabank Mortgage Corp
• Yahoo! - The Bank of Nova Scotia Company Profile

Notes

1. Scotiabank International
2. Scotiabank Corporate Profile