Holdings of Tier 1 capital at Canada’s four largest banks have risen steadily over the past few years on the back of robust underwriting metrics and diversified revenue streams.
Toronto Dominion Bank — which overtook rival Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to become country’s largest bank by assets last year — saw its Tier 1 capital increase 41% between 2016 and 2020, to reach $51.9bn at end October 2020, according to The Banker Database.
RBC, which remains the country’s largest bank by Tier 1, saw its core capital increase by 35% over the same five-year period to reach $55.6bn in 2020.
Scotiabank, the country’s third-largest bank by assets and Tier 1, saw its Tier 1 capital increase by 24% between 2016 and 2020, reaching $41.6bn at end October 2020. However, the bank did post a minor dip in Tier 1 in 2018.
Bank of Montreal, the country’s fourth-largest bank, saw its Tier 1 increase by 43% over the five-year period to reach $34.5bn in 2020.
All four banks increased their Tier 1 over the past year, despite the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw the country’s economy shrink by 5.4% in 2020, according to the World Bank.
Trends identified using The Banker Database, an online database providing comprehensive financial data and insight for 4000 of the world's leading banks in 190 countries. Contact us.
