Scotiabank - Recent Events

Recent Events

• On November 6, 2006, two homemade bombs were placed within Scotiabank branches in Mexico City. One exploded, resulting in no deaths, while a second bomb was de-activated. Authorities were previously alerted to the presence of the bombs. A coalition of five leftist guerilla groups which support (but had no known connections to) protests in Oaxaca claimed responsibility.
• In December 2006, Scotiabank announced it successfully acquired majority control of the fourth largest Jamaica-based Securities dealer Dehring Bunting & Golding Ltd. (DB&G) ending weeks of speculation about the bid on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. The deal is expected to cost the Bank of Nova Scotia and its Jamaican subsidiary between C$80 – $90 million to close the deal.
• On August 31, 2007, Scotiabank announced it has signed agreements to purchase 79 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo, Chile's seventh largest bank for US$810 million. These agreements are the first stage in a plan to purchase up to 100 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo. Scotiabank will be making a public share offering on the same terms and expects to acquire up to 100 per cent of Banco del Desarrollo, which would be valued at US$1.03 billion.
• In July 2008, E*TRADE sold its Canadian division to Scotiabank for CAN$444 million, as part of a program of selling off non-core assets. Scotiabank is investigating the expansion of the E*Trade service to their Caribbean markets as well.
• In October 2008, Scotiabank was considered one of the front-runners to buy Cleveland-based National City Corp. and re-enter the United States market, alongside Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services and Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. Many local citizens in Cleveland considered Scotiabank as the best option, due to their longstanding absence from the U.S. market, which would've allowed most of National City's operations to stay in Cleveland. Scotiabank, however, backed out of the deal, and PNC would acquire National City with TARP funds on October 24, 2008 after National City became a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis.
• In 2010 a panel for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruled that Scotiabank as the sponsors of the Caribana festival, did not have grounds for being awarded the domain name caribana.com from its current owners Working Word Co-operative.
• In 2010, Scotiabank acquired the assets of R & G Financial Corporation, a failed Puerto Rican bank.
• Soon after Canadian regulators gave the go ahead for Canadian banks to begin mergers and acquisitions, Scotiabank announced it would takeover Commerzbank AG's Brazilian wholesale banking unit. This information was released on September 16, 2010.
• Scotiabank announced on September 27, 2010, that they would be purchasing Royal Bank of Scotland's Chilean wholesale banking unit worth around $900 million in assets.
• On December 2010, Scotiabank continues to expand its presence in Latin America acquiring the Uruguayan Nuevo Banco Comercial, becoming the first Canadian bank with presence in the country
• On October 20, 2011, Scotiabank acquired a 51% stake in Banco Colpatria, Colombia's fifth largest bank and second largest issuer of credit cards for the tune of 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's purchase in Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
• On August 29, 2012, Scotiabank announced that it would acquire ING Direct Canada for $3.13 billion dollars. The sale was completed on November 15, 2012.

Scotiabank has a strong presence in Thailand through its 49% owned affiliate Thanachart Bank. With the recent acquisition of Siam City Bank, Thanachart Bank is now the 5th largest bank in Thailand with over 16,000 staff serving almost 4 million customers through 680 branches and 2,100 ATMs across the country.