 The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) opened for business in 1832 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to facilitate the thriving trans-Atlantic trade between Britain, North America and the West Indies. Agents were quickly assigned to New York, Boston and London, providing a framework for the Bank’s operations and an early indication of its global aspirations. Scotiabank paid its first dividend to shareholders a year later - the first in an unbroken history of dividend payments that continues to this day.
National Expansion
Beginning in the 1880s, Scotiabank moved westward across Canada. By the early 1900s, a coast-to-coast branch network had been established, and its headquarters moved to Toronto. This expansion was accelerated by amalgamations with the Union Bank of Prince Edward Island (1882), Bank of New Brunswick (1913), Metropolitan Bank (1914) and Bank of Ottawa (1919).
The post-Second World War economic boom ushered in new growth for Scotiabank. Among the many innovations pioneered by Scotiabank during this period: Scotia Plan Loans, one of Canada’s first consumer lending products; the public trading of gold; and the appointment of the first Canadian women as branch managers.
When the financial services sector deregulated in the late 1980s and 1990s, the Bank further diversified its Canadian operations through major acquisitions, including investment dealer McLeod Young Weir (1987), and trust companies Montreal Trust (1994) and National Trust (1997).
International Reach
Scotiabank’s first office outside of Canada opened in the grain trade capital of Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., in 1885, later moving to Chicago in 1892. In 1889, the Bank opened a branch in Kingston, Jamaica, to facilitate the trading of sugar, rum and fish. It was the first branch of a Canadian bank to open outside the United States or United Kingdom and formed the base of what would become a thriving network spanning some 25 countries throughout the Caribbean and Central America - making Scotiabank the largest bank in this region.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Scotiabank began extending its network into Asia, and by the 1990s, had also expanded its presence in Central and South America, making it one of the world’s most truly international banks.
In 2006, the Scotiabank Group's presence in Latin America is evident through majority-controlled Grupo Financiero Scotiabank in Mexico, Scotiabank El Salvador, Scotiabank de Costa Rica, Scotiabank Sud Americano in Chile and Scotiabank Peru, as well as affiliate Banco del Caribe in Venezuela.
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