Scotiabank intends to expand its domestic credit card business, despite record levels of household debt in Canada. It also wants to push retail operations in Latin America, a region where economic growth has been largely disappointing in recent years. Chief executive Brian Porter explains the rationale behind what may sound to some like a risky plan.
With one of the most stable and well-capitalised banking systems in the world, Canadian banks are riding high on the back of a strong mortgage market. But will high consumer debt levels and international banking regulation restrict activity?
Scotiabank's need to provide a more rounded service for its customers across the globe led to a co-operation with Western Union, which has developed over the past 18 months. As the Canadian bank's managing director of core deposits and payments acknowledges, this arrangement has been mutually beneficial.
The countries of the Caribbean have so far avoided the worst of the global slowdown, in part due to the region's steadfast regulatory discipline, but also because of the conservative approach adopted by the Canadian banks that dominate the area's financial sector. Writer Jane Monahan
Bank of America has stolen the crown of Citigroup. The bank, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, motored ahead of the erstwhile number one bank in our list and is now the largest bank in North America and in the world, with Tier 1 capital of $91,065m.
A newly-elected minority Liberal government has left the prospects for Canadian bank mergers looking uncertain. Sheldon Gordon reports from Toronto. Canada’s general election on June 28 produced the worst possible outcome for the country’s banking sector. Prime minister Paul Martin’s Liberals were returned to office but, with only a plurality of the seats, they will have to cater to two smaller, left-wing parties in order to command a majority in parliament. Bankers would clearly have preferred the stability of a clear-cut victory by either Mr Martin’s Liberals or their main opponent, the Conservative Party.