The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. One of Canada's

Big Five banks Big Five is the name colloquially given to the five largest banks that dominate the banking industry of Canada: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Scotiabank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and Toronto-Dominion Bank ...

, it is the third-largest Canadian bank by deposits and

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

. In 2023, the company's seat in

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

was 88. It serves more than 25 million customers around the world and offers a range of products and services including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking. With more than 89,000 employees and assets of CA$1,399 billion as of April 30, 2024 (according to Q2-2024 Report to Shareholders), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto () and New York () exchanges. The Scotiabank

swift code Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...

is NOSCCATT and the institution number is 002. Scotiabank was founded in 1832 in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, where it was headquartered until relocating to Toronto in 1900. Scotiabank has billed itself as "Canada's most international bank" due to its acquisitions primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also in Europe and parts of Asia. Scotiabank is a member of the

London Bullion Market Association The London Bullion Market Association (now known simply as LBMA), established in 1987, is the international trade association representing the global Over The Counter (OTC) bullion market, and defines itself as "the global authority on precious ...

and one of fifteen accredited institutions which participate in the London

gold fixing The London Gold Fixing (or Gold Fix) is the setting of the price of gold that takes place via a dedicated conference line. It was formerly held on the London premises of Nathan Mayer Rothschild & Sons by the members of The London Gold Market Fixi ...

. From 1997 to 2019, this was conducted through its precious metals division

ScotiaMocatta ScotiaMocatta, originally founded as Mocatta Bullion in 1684, was a precious metal and base metal trading company that operated as the metals trading division of the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) from 1997 until January 2019. Business Sco ...

. Scotiabank's president and CEO Brian J. Porter announced his retirement to be effective January 31, 2023, and Scott Thompson was named as his replacement.

History

19th century

The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, a

British colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

at that time. The bank was incorporated by the

Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (; ), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature. The assembly is ...

on March 30, 1832. William Lawson was the first president. The bank intended to facilitate the trans-Atlantic trade of the time. Later, in 1883, the Bank of Nova Scotia acquired the Union Bank of Prince Edward Island, 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 Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

, Nova Scotia. The expansion was limited to the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

until 1882, when the bank moved west by opening a branch in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, which later closed, but the bank continued to expand into the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern c ...

. This included opening a branch in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1885, which later transferred to Chicago in 1892. Following the collapse of the Commercial Bank of Newfoundland and Union Bank of Newfoundland on December 10, 1894, the Bank of Nova Scotia established on December 15, 1894, in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. The bank opened a branch in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, in 1889 to facilitate the trading of sugar,

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

, and fish. This was Scotiabank's first move into the Caribbean and historically the first branch of a Canadian bank to open outside of the United States or the United Kingdom. In 1899, Scotiabank opened a branch in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. By the end of the 19th century, the bank was represented in all of the

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. In 1900, the bank moved its headquarters to

, Ontario.

20th century

The bank continued to grow with the opening of new branches in the early 20th century. In 1906, the Bank of Nova Scotia opened a branch in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Old City in the following year. In 1910, the bank opened a branch in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The bank also grew with the merger and acquisition of other banks, including the

Bank of New Brunswick The Bank of New Brunswick, established in 1820, was the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. The bank operated independently in New Brunswick and later in Prince Edward Island until it merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia (now Scotiabank ...

in 1913, and the Toronto-based Metropolitan Bank in 1914. The acquisition of Metropolitan Bank made the Bank of Nova Scotia the fourth largest financial institution in Canada at that time. In 1919, the bank amalgamated with the

Bank of Ottawa The Bank of Ottawa was an early Canadian banking establishment in the Ottawa Valley, Ontario. Branches included Ottawa, Carp, Pembroke, Keewatin and Winnipeg, Manitoba. It merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1919. History The Bank of Ottawa ...

. In 1919, the bank opened a branch in

Fajardo Fajardo () is a Fajardo barrio-pueblo, town and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality part of the San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area, San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area in Puerto Rico. Fajardo is the hub of mu ...

, Puerto Rico. In the following year, the bank opened a branch in London, and another in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, Dominican Republic. The bank also saw growth in Cuba, with five branches in Havana, and one branch each in

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by Sp ...

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

, Manzanillo, and

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

by 1931. During the mid-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. Major changes include: Following the passage of the '' National Housing Act'', the Bank of Nova Scotia created a mortgage department in 1954. Further changes to the ''Bank Act of 1954'' in 1958 led to the bank introducing its consumer credit program. The bank's branches in Cuba continued to operate until 1960, when the Government of Cuba nationalized all banks in Cuba, and the Bank of Nova Scotia withdrew its services from all eight branches. During the 1960s, the Bank of Nova Scotia became the first Canadian bank to appoint women as bank managers, with the first appointed on September 11, 1961. In the next year, the bank expanded into Asia with the opening of a Representative Office in Japan. In 1975, the Bank of Nova Scotia adopted ''Scotiabank'' as its worldwide brand name. On September 28, 1978, Scotiabank and

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; ) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well. CUPE is the largest union in Canada, ...

signed a collective agreement in Toronto, making Scotiabank the first Canadian bank to sign a collective agreement with a union. In 1986, Scotiabank created Scotia Securities to provide discount brokerage and security underwriting services. The late 1980s and 1990s saw the bank acquire several firms, including

McLeod Young Weir McLeod, Young, Weir & Co. Limited, and after 1977, McLeod Young Weir Limited, was a Canadian investment brokerage that operated from 1921 to 1988. The firm grew to become one of the country's largest brokerage houses and provided services includi ...

brokerage firm (co-founded by Donald Ivan McLeod, William Ewart Young, James Gordon Weir and John Henry (Harry) Ratcliffe in 1921) in 1988, and Montreal Trustco Inc. in 1994. In 1997, the bank acquired National Trust Company for Can$1.25 billion. In the same year, Scotiabank acquired Banco Quilmes in Argentina.

21st century

In 2000, Scotiabank increased its stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat to 55 percent. The Mexican bank was subsequently renamed to Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Inverlat. Scotiabank later acquired Inverlat banking house in 2003, taking over all of its branches and establishing a strong presence in the country. In 2002, Scotiabank shut its branches (formerly Banco Quilmes) in Argentina during the currency crisis and massive

sovereign default A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments (or receivables) may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it wil ...

. In the following year, Scotiabank's Guangzhou branch was awarded the first licence to a Canadian bank by the Chinese government to deal in Chinese currency. In 2007, Scotiabank acquired a 24.98 per cent stake in

Thanachart Bank Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited (TBank) () was a bank headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. It commenced operations on 22 April 2002 with Thanachart Capital PCL (TCAP) as its parent company. In 2018, it was Thailand's sixth-largest bank in ...

, with that share later increasing to 48.99 per cent by December 2014. With the acquisition of

Siam City Bank Siam City Bank (, ) was a Thai bank that operated from 1941 to 2010. The bank was founded by the Nirandorn family, but changed hands many times, and by the 1990s its largest shareholders were the Srifuengfung and Mahadamrongkul families. The bank s ...

, Thanachart Bank is now the 6th largest bank (by assets) in Thailand with over 16,000 staff serving more than four million customers through 680 branches and 2,100 ATMs across the country. In 2010, the bank opened its first offices in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia. On October 20, 2011, Scotiabank acquired a 51 per cent stake in , Colombia's fifth largest bank and second largest issuer of credit cards, for $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 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

's purchase in Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. Tangerine Bank cafe on Yonge Street

In 2012, Scotiabank entered into an agreement to acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada from ING Groep N.V. Two years later, Scotiabank would acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada for Can$3.13 billion. The sale completed on November 15, 2012, and ING Bank of Canada was later renamed

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in colour, that is considered either a variety of the mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), or a closely related species, under the name ''Citrus tangerina'', or yet as a hybrid (''Citr ...

in April 2014. As a result of the FATCA agreement between Canada and the United States, signed between the two countries in 2014, Scotiabank has also spent almost $100 million implementing a controversial system to report to the United States the account holdings of close to one million Canadians of American origin and their Canadian-born spouses. Scotiabank has been forced to implement this system in order to comply with

FATCA The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 U.S. federal law requiring all non-U.S. foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for customers with indicia of a connection to the U.S., including indications in r ...

. According to

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' is a financial news website, and business section of the ''National Post'', both publications of the Postmedia Network. It started as an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the ...

, FATCA requires Canadian banks to provide information to the United States including total assets, account balances, account numbers, transactions, account numbers, and other personal identifying information, as well as assets held jointly with Canadian-born spouses and other family members. On July 14, 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would buy

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

's retail and commercial banking operations in Panama and Costa Rica. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The purchase would increase Scotiabank's client base in both countries from 137,000 to 387,000, and would add 27 branches to the existing 51 branches in both Central American nations. Scotiabank's former president, CEO and Chairman Cedric Ritchie died on March 20, 2016. He was a President of Scotiabank from 1972, and CEO and chairman from 1974 to 1995. Under his leadership, Scotiabank expanded into more than 40 countries and grew to 33,000 employees. In 2017, Scotiabank join Enterprise

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...

Alliance. In 2018, Scotiabank acquired Montreal investment firm Jarislowsky Fraser, also in 2018 Scotiabank completed the acquisition of a 68.19 per cent stake in

BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Bilbao, with operative offices in Madrid. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, ...

Chile for Can$2.9 billion, as a result

Chile was merged into Scotiabank Chile. On February 21, 2019, the Prosecutor in the Central American country of

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

raided Scotiabank's offices in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

, claiming that the bank had failed to provide the government with information on accounts and deposits that could allegedly implicate

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...

, the former president of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, in money laundering. Later that year, in June 2019 it was announced that OFG Bancorp would acquire all branches of Scotiabank within Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands territories as part of a $550 million cash deal. In 2019, Scotiabank underwent a rebranding, modifying its wordmark logo and introducing a new corporate font based on its design, downplaying the company's S and globe monogram, and increasing use of the abbreviated name "Scotia". In 2022, the management tried to reduce the rate of

remote work Remote work (also called telecommuting, telework, work from or at home, WFH as an initialism, hybrid work, and other terms) is the practice of work (human activity), working at or from one's home or Third place, another space rather than from ...

. On February 14, 2024,

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and Group Head, Global Banking and Markets Jake Lawrence left the bank after 22 years and joined the

Power Corporation Power Corporation of Canada is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfolio ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. His responsibilities are shared between Paul Scurfield to Global Head, Capital Markets, Global Banking and Markets, and Michael Kruse, acting as Interim Global Head, Corporate and Investment Banking, Global Banking and Markets. In February 2024, Bank of Nova Scotia announced the creation of first indigenous-owned investment dealer in Canada. Cedar Leaf Capital is a partnership between two indigenous development corporations and one indigenous peoples corporation. Each side owns 23.3% of the shares and Scotiabank controls the rest. At the same time, the bank will reduce its share once Cedar Leaf Capital has established its production. This initiative will facilitate access by aboriginal people (5% of Canada's 40 million people) to investment and infrastructure development. In August 2024, Scotiabank and

KeyCorp KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

(a U.S. regional bank) announced that Scotiabank was purchasing 14.9% of KeyCorp for approximately $2.8 billion. The parties expect to complete the purchase upon the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the receipt of Federal Reserve approval, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2025. As part of the transaction, KeyCorp and Scotiabank plan to explore commercial opportunities to partner together in the future to best serve their respective client bases. In November 2024, some customers were unable to access their accounts for days. In January 2025, the signing of an agreement to purchase the remaining stake (43.9%) in Scotiabank Colpatria (Colombia) is announced, in turn announcing a merger agreement in some Latin American countries through which Scotiabank will hold 20% of Davivienda, and the latter will absorb Scotiabank Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, operations that in any case will be subject to regulatory approvals throughout 2025.

Acquisitions and mergers

The bank has amalgamated with several other Canadian financial institutions through the years and purchased several other banks overseas. Most have been rebranded since their acquisition, although a few continue to utilize their former names. Several branches of the former Montreal Trust and National Trust were rebranded Scotiabank & Trust, and continue to operate as such.

Operating units

Scotiabank has four business lines: * Canadian Banking provides financial advice and banking to personal and business customers across Canada. Scotiabank also provides an alternative self-directed banking method through

Tangerine Bank Tangerine Bank ( operating as Tangerine) is a Canadian direct bank that is a subsidiary of Scotiabank. It offers no-fee chequing and savings accounts, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), mortgages and mutual funds (through a subsidiary) ...

. * International Banking provides financial products and advice to retail and commercial customers in select regions outside of Canada, supplemented by additional products and services offered by Global Banking & Markets and Global Wealth & Insurance. * Global Wealth & Insurance (GWI) combines the Bank's wealth management and insurance operations in Canada and internationally, and Global Transaction Banking. GWI is diversified across geographies and product lines. * Global Banking & Markets, Scotiabank's wholesale banking and capital markets arm, offers various products and services to corporate, government and institutional investor clients globally.

Branch and office locations

Canadian

Scotiabank operates branches in all

Canadian provinces and territories Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

, except for

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

Global

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Controversies

Major investor in UN-blacklisted Israeli bank and arms manufacturer

One of Scotiabank mutual funds is the largest foreign investor of the UNHRC-blacklisted Israeli bank Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, which invests in illegal settlements in Palestinian Territories. The same mutual fund is also heavily invested in the Israeli weapon manufacturer Elbit;. Elbit also provides surveillance system in the West Bank, and has a spying-tool division that has been involved in spying on journalists. 1832 Asset Management, a division of Scotiabank's Dynamic Fund held 5 per cent of Elbit, valued at about US$440 million, until May 14, 2024, when it disclosed in a regulatory filing that the halved their investments to 2.5 per cent, valued at about US$237.6 million. These investments raises major concerns, for the following reasons: * The investments in UN blacklisted bank and arms manufacturer go against Scotiabank's own ESG rules * The Dynamic Global Discovery Fund is investing about 12% in just two companies (one UN-blacklisted): excessive and speculative for two smallcap companies * The fund does not mention in its filings that it is highly speculative, due to fact that its 12% stake are a UN-blacklisted company and a controversial arm manufacturer

Fraud in Mexico

A 2001 investigation into the murder of Maru Oropesa, a Scotiabank branch manager in Mexico City, revealed US$14 million missing from the branch. Initially, investigators found that Oropesa and Jaime Ross, her former boss, had illegally transferred US$5 million from client investment accounts. The money was eventually transferred to the United States where it was used to purchase three aircraft. As the investigation continued, officials found an additional $9 million missing and involvement of 16 other bank employees in the fraud. Ross was convicted of fraud and money laundering for his role and sentenced to 15 years. Scotiabank terminated the other 16 employees, but did not prosecute them.

Unpaid overtime lawsuit

In 2014, the bank reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that covered thousands of workers owed more than a decade of unpaid overtime. The lawsuit included 16,000 Scotiabank employees across Canada who worked as personal banking officers, senior personal banking officers, financial advisors, and small business account managers from January 1, 2000, to December 1, 2013. The 2007 lawsuit was similar to a class-action filed by

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...

(CIBC) bank teller Dara Fresco of Toronto. Under terms of the settlement, employees received 1.5 times their standard wage at the time, but no interest. Scotiabank also paid legal fees of $10.45 million.

Wrongful dismissal lawsuit

In June 2005, David Berry, a very successful Canadian Scotiabank trader who had built a $75 million/year business in trading preferred shares, was fired on the grounds that he had committed securities regulatory violations. At the time, as part of a 20 per cent direct drive deal, he was making more than double the CEO's salary and Scotiabank management had already taken steps to limit his compensation. The regulatory violation allegations from his former employer, left him unemployable to Scotiabank's competitors despite the appeal of potentially adding more than $75 million/year to their equity trading profits. Documents delivered to the media showing that Scotiabank management had sought advice on terminating Berry prior to the

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

(IIROC) violation accusation, and the results of questioning during the IIROC inquiries strongly suggest that the securities charges were part of a plan by Scotiabank senior management to remove Berry from his position and simultaneously prevent him from becoming their competitor. In a ruling on January 15, 2013, more than seven years after the initial accusation, a hearing panel of the IIROC dismissed all charges against Berry. David Berry filed a $100 million

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

lawsuit against Scotiabank. As of January 2015, and nine years after Berry was terminated, Scotiabank settled with Berry for an undisclosed amount. Barry Critchley, who followed the story since its beginning, wrote an article on November 6, 2014, in which he believes Scotiabank's $55 million reported legal charges would likely be connected to the $100 million lawsuit; but it is unlikely to ever be known.

Sponsorship

Sports

Scotiabank is the title sponsor for a number of sports events including the Calgary Marathon, the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

tournament (since 2015), and the Jewish National Fund's "Pitch for Israel" event. Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for running events that form a part of the Canada Running Series. They include Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal + 10k & 5k in April; Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k Run/Walk in June; Scotiabank

Toronto Waterfront The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River (Ontario), Rouge River in the east. History L ...

Marathon, Half-Marathon & 5k in October; and the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon. Since 2005, Scotiabank has also 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 The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. Scotiabank was also a primary sponsor for Champion Boxer

Miguel Cotto Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win quadruple champion, world titles in fo ...

during his 2009 bout with

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

. Scotiabank also sponsors sports leagues and teams, becoming a sponsor for

Club Deportivo Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. It c ...

in 2013, and becoming the official sponsor for the

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

after signing a five-year period contract in 2014. Scotiabank is also the official bank of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and

National Hockey League Players' Association The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA, ) is the trade union, labour union for the group of professional List of NHL players, hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey ...

. It was named official bank of the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

. In 2010, Scotiabank was a sponsor of the World Rally Championship's Corona Rally Mexico. Since 2008, Scotiabank has been the official team sponsor of the

Canadian cricket Team The Canada men's national cricket team represents Canada in international cricket. The team is administered by Cricket Canada, which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1968. With the United States, Canad ...

and the title sponsor of National T20 Championship in

. Scotiabank is also the official bank of the West Indies cricket team.
Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for a number of athletic facilities. They include the

Scotiabank Aquatics Center The Scotiabank Aquatics Center is an aquatics center built for the 2011 Pan American Games in the municipality of Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico. It was opened June 22, 2011, built at a cost of $United States dollar, USD31.7m (380 million Mex ...

Zapopan, Mexico Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Zapopan is the largest city in the state. It's best known as the home of the Virgin of Zapopan, an image of the Virgin Ma ...

;

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

(since October 8, 2010); and the

Scotiabank Centre Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Street, at the c ...

in Halifax (since June 25, 2014). The

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

for the Scotiabank Centre was signed for ten years, with annual fees of $650,000 for said rights. The facility officially opened its doors as the rebranded Scotiabank Centre on September 19, 2014. On August 29, 2017, Scotiabank and

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

, announced that Scotiabank purchased the naming rights to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto for $800 million, a record-setting deal described as "one of the biggest investments in naming rights in North America". The multi-sport complex was renamed July 1, 2018, as

Scotiabank Arena Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...

. From 2006 through 2013, Scotiabank held the naming rights to the arena of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

, branding it

Scotiabank Place Canadian Tire Centre () is a multi-purpose arena in the suburb of Kanata in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Centre () from 1996 to 2006 and Scotiabank Place () from 2006 to 2013. ...

Canadian Tire Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited () is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas station ...

took over the naming rights for the Senators' arena in June 2013. In 2022, Scotiabank acquired the naming rights to the Bell MTS Iceplex near Winnipeg; rather than use the Scotiabank name, the facility is instead branded as Hockey for All Centre, as an extension of a diversity and inclusion campaign of the same name.

Culture

Scotiabank has been a title sponsor for a number of cultural events and institutions in Canada. In 2005, Scotiabank became title sponsor of the

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...

. From 2006 to 2015, Scotiabank was the title sponsor for the

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...

event in Toronto. In 2008, Scotiabank announced a two-year sponsorship of Toronto's Caribana which would be rebranded as Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto. The sponsorship of the Caribbean festival was extended until 2015, when the partnership with the festival ended. In 2016 Scotiabank held its first hackathon with the goal of solving Canadian debt. Scotiabank and Canadian theatre operator

Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Entertainment and Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 loc ...

partnered in 2007 to create a loyalty rewards program called

Scene+ Scene+ (formerly Scene) is a Canadian loyalty program established in 2007. It is owned by Scene LP, which is jointly owned by Galaxy Entertainment, a subsidiary of Cineplex Inc., Scotiabank, and Empire Company. Members earn points via purcha ...

. 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 a debit card which gives them points when used, and a Visa credit card was launched in early May. Five Cineplex Entertainment locations were also rebranded as "Scotiabank Theatres." In 2015, the two companies announced they extended the partnership through October 31, 2025, and would expand naming rebrand another five theatres as Scotiabank Theatres. On December 14, 2021, the new

program was launched. It merged Scene and Scotia Rewards points. Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for two post-secondary facilities in Canada, including Scotiabank Hall at

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

; and Scotiabank Hall in the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

in Halifax. Scotiabank has also established an industry partnership with the

University of Waterloo Stratford Campus The Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, also known as the University of Waterloo Stratford School and formerly the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, is a satellite campus of the University of Waterloo located in Stratfor ...

Awards

* 2005 – "Bank of the Year" – For

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the Caribbean and in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

by LatinFinance. * 2007 – "Bank of the Year" ''The Banker'' – London England, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Belize, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos * 2008 – "Bank of the Year" ''The Banker'' – London England, Scotiabank Barbados, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Guyana, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos * 2009 – "Bank of the Year" ''The Banker'' – London England, Scotiabank Canada, Scotiabank Barbados, Scotiabank Dominican Republic, Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos * 2010 – "Bank of the Year" ''

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

'' – 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. * 2012 - "Global Bank of the Year" ''The Banker'' "Bank of the Year" for the Americas, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Canada and Turks and Caicos. * 2013 – "Bank of the Year" in British Virgin Islands, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago by ''The Banker''. * 2014 – "Best Emerging Market Bank in Latin America" ''Global Finance'' Magazine in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos and U.S. Virgin Islands.

Membership

Scotiabank is a member of the

Canadian Bankers Association The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA; ) is a trade association and lobby group representing Canadian banks. Its over 60 members include Canada's Big Five banks, smaller domestic banks, and Canadian subsidiaries of foreign banks. Founded in Mon ...

(CBA) and registered member with the

Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC; ) is a Canadian federal Crown Corporation created by Parliament in 1967 to provide deposit insurance to depositors in Canadian commercial banks and savings institutions. CDIC insures Canadians' de ...

(CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks. It is also a member of the

Global ATM Alliance The Global ATM Alliance is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their automated teller machine (ATM) card or debit card at another bank within the alliance with no international ATM acces ...

, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM cards or

check card The term check card can refer to: * A debit card. * In Ireland and the United Kingdom, similar cards known as cheque guarantee card A cheque guarantee card was an abbreviated portable letter of credit granted by a bank to a qualified depositor i ...

s at certain other banks within the Global ATM Alliance without fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

(United Kingdom),

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

(United States),

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

(France and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

through UkrSibbank),

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

(Germany), and

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, also known as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it acquired the Commerc ...

(Australia and New Zealand). Other international associations of which the bank is a member include: * Amex in Canadian markets * CarIFS ATM Network *

Interac Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transf ...

MAGNA Rewards is an inflected form of the Latin word , , with cognates throughout the Indo-European languages, including English '' many'' and '' mega'' (the latter a doublet via Ancient Greek ()). It appears in many names and titles, including: Companies ...

as part of the Scotiabank MAGNA MasterCard. * MasterCard in the Caribbean markets * MultiLink Network ATM network *

NYCE The New York Currency Exchange (NYCE) is an interbank network connecting the Automatic teller machine, ATMs of various financial institutions in the United States and Canada. NYCE also serves as an EFTPOS network for NYCE-linked ATM cards. NYCE ...

ATM Network *

Plus Network Visa Plus is a worldwide interbank network that provides cash to Visa cardholders. As a subsidiary of Visa Inc., it connects all Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as ATM cards issued by various banks worldwide bearing the Visa / E ...

for VISA card users *

VISA Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

International * UNEPFI as part of the Net Zero Banking Alliance initiative

Leadership

President

# William Lawson, 1832–1837 #

Mather Byles Almon Mather Byles Almon (1796 – 30 July 1871) was a Canadian banker, politician, and philanthropist. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Almon was a founder of the Bank of Nova Scotia. He was president of the bank from 1837 to 1870. He also helped wit ...

, 1837–1870 # James Donaldson, 1870–1871 # John Doull, 1871–1872 # Andrew Mitchell Uniacke, 1872–1874 # John S. Maclean, 1874–1889 # John Doull, 1889–1899 # Jarius Hart, 1899 #

John Young Payzant John Young Payzant K.C., M.A. (9 February 183719 November 1920) was a Canadian financier, lawyer, and politician in Nova Scotia. Early life and education John Young Payzant was born on 9 February 1837 in Falmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was t ...

, 1899–1918 # Charles Archibald, 1918–1923 # George Stewart Campbell, 1923–1927 # Samuel John Moore, 1927–1934 #

John Andrew McLeod John Andrew McLeod (8 August 1868 – 5 March 1946) was a Canadian banker who served from 1934 to 1945 as president and from 1945 to 1946 as chairman of the Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Can ...

, 1934–1945 # Herbert Deschamps Burns, 1945–1949 # Horace Luttrell Enman, 1949–1956 # Charles Sydney Frost, 1956–1958 # Frank William Nicks, 1958–1970 #

Arthur Holmes Crockett Arthur Holmes Crockett (12 January 1917 – 18 September 2009) was a Canadian banker who served from 1970 to 1972 as president of the Bank of Nova Scotia The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational ba ...

, 1970–1972 # Cedric Elmer Ritchie, 1972–1979 # John Alexander Gordon Bell, 1979–1992 # Peter Cowperthwaite Godsoe, 1992–2003 # Richard Earl Waugh, 2003–2013 # Brian Johnston Porter, 2013–2022 # Lawren Scott Thomson, 2022–

Chairman of the Board

# Samuel John Moore, 1933–1945 #

, 1945–1946 # Herbert Deschamps Burns, 1949–1955 # Horace Luttrell Enman, 1955–1959 # Frank William Nicks, 1962–1972 # Thomas Albert Boyles, 1972–1974 # Cedric Elmer Ritchie, 1974–1995 # Peter Cowperthwaite Godsoe, 1995–2004 #

Arthur Richard Andrew Scace Arthur Richard Andrew Scace (22 July 1938 – 3 May 2020) was a lawyer and jurist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the chairman of the board of directors of the Bank of Nova Scotia and is the board director of the Canadian Opera House Corpora ...

, 2004–2009 # John Thomas Mayberry, 2009–2014 # Thomas Charles O'Neill, 2014–2019 # Aaron William Regent, 2019–

Chief Executive Officer

# Frank William Nicks, December 1958 – 4 January 1972 # Thomas Albert Boyles, 4 January 1972 – December 1972 # Cedric Elmer Ritchie, December 1972 – 19 January 1993 # Peter Cowperthwaite Godsoe, 19 January 1993 – 1 December 2003 # Richard Earl Waugh, 2 December 2003 – 31 October 2013 # Brian Johnston Porter, 1 November 2013 – 31 January 2023 # Lawren Scott Thomson, 1 February 2023 –

Bank histories

* '' History of the Bank of Nova Scotia, 1832–1900''. * '' The Bank of Nova Scotia, 1832–1932''. * Schull, Joseph, and J. Douglas Gibson. '' The Scotiabank Story: A History of the Bank of Nova Scotia, 1832–1982''. Macmillan of Canada, 1982.

References

External links

*
Archival papers of Gilbert Edward Jackson, the first economist for The Bank of Nova Scotia (1926–1935), are held at the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Companies in the TTSE Composite Banks of Canada Canadian brands Companies based in Toronto S&P/TSX 60 Banks of the Caribbean Banks established in 1832 1832 establishments in Nova Scotia Mortgage lenders of Canada Banks of Puerto Rico Multinational companies headquartered in Canada Canadian companies established in 1832 Primary dealers