Scotiabank history

1912: Bank of Nova Scotia merges with the Bank of New Brunswick, the oldest Canadian chartered bank.

1913 – Bank of Nova Scotia merged with the Bank of New Brunswick.

1914: Toronto-based Metropolitan Bank is acquired, making Scotiabank the fourth largest financial institution in Canada.

1919: The Bank of Ottawa is acquired.

1920 – The bank opened a branch in London, and another in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

By 1930, it had become apparent that the current Head Office and Halifax Main Branch (188 Hollis Street) was too small for one of Canada's fastest growing financial institutions.

On August 3, 1931, The Bank of Nova Scotia opened one of our most authentically Canadian buildings.

By 1950 the bank had opened 90 new branches, half in British Columbia and Alberta.

In 1958 the bank joined with British financial interests to form the Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company to engage in offshore and trust operations which were off-limits to foreign banks.

When, in 1959, a money squeeze threatened its lending activity volume, the bank introduced a one-to-six-year term note that allowed it to compete successfully with finance and trust companies.

In 1960, the Government of Cuba nationalized all banks in Cuba and the Scotiabank withdrew services from all eight branches.

1961 – The bank became the first Canadian bank to appoint women bank managers on September 11, 1961.

1962 – The bank expanded into Asia with the opening of a Representative Office in Japan.

In 1963 the bank underwent a major internal reorganization, and a new profit planning system was introduced that required each branch and region to submit annual loan and deposit forecasts to be incorporated into the bank's overall plan.

In 1972, the bank was sued by VK Mason Construction Ltd. for negligent misrepresentation related to the building of an office and shopping complex.

1978 – The bank and Canadian Union of Public Employees signed the first collective agreement between a Canadian bank and a union on September 28, 1978, in Toronto.

In 1980 an operations department was formed to consolidate many of the branch, regional, and head office functions into one area, a move which signaled a shift away from decentralization toward more direct headquarters control.

1981: Bank of Nova Scotia expands into Asia with the opening of a branch in Japan.

Although the bank was protected under Cayman Island law from such releases, a Florida judge ruled that the bank stood in contempt of court and fined it US$25,000 a day, retroactive to November 1983, for each day it did not produce the records.

In 1984 the bank, along with four other Canadian banks, was the subject of a one-year investigation by the Royal Commission of the Bahamas into drug dealing and money laundering by Bahamian Prime Minister Pindling and his wife.

1987: Scotia Securities is formed to provide discount brokerage and security underwriting services.

1988: Brokerage firm McLeod Young Weir Ltd. is acquired.

The bank's sales also spiraled upward to about C$9.4 billion in 1994.

Godsoe gained the CEO position the following year and became chairman at the beginning of 1995.

Meantime, profits at the Bank of Nova Scotia surpassed the C$1 billion mark for the time in 1996.

In December 1998 Finance Minister Paul Martin scotched both of the deals, having concluded that the mergers would create two banks wielding too much power in the Canadian market, with competition in the industry being severely reduced.

In November 1999, The Bank of Nova Scotia’s corporate banking businesses and Scotia Capital Markets were integrated to form Scotia Capital – a marketing banner for the wholesale division of the Bank and some of its subsidiaries.

2000 – Scotiabank’s stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat is increased to 55 percent.

In the political and economic chaos that followed Argentina's defaulting on its foreign debt in December 2001, the operations of Banco Scotiabank Quilmes were suspended by the local government because of liquidity problems, after Scotiabank refused to inject more capital into the troubled bank.

2002: Economic turmoil in Argentina leads to the bank's sale of its subsidiary there and a C$540 million writedown on its investment.

2003: Stake in Scotiabank Inverlat is increased to 91 percent.

The federal government said that it would not consider approving any bank mergers before September 2004.

By 2006, Scotiabank’s presence in Latin America was 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.

2012 – Scotiabank enters into an agreement to acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada from ING Groep N.V.