Scotiabank

The Bank of Nova Scotia, operating as ‘Scotiabank,’ was established in 1842 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Soon after its foundation, the bank expanded: it entered British controlled Trinidad in 1889, US-dominated Philippines a few years later, and the Dominican Republic during the US occupation of 1916-1924. Today, it operates in over 40 countries and is represented on the Canadian International Council, an organization that enables public engagement with Canadian foreign policy.

In November 1981, a Scotiabank executive told Walter Stewart in Towers of Gold, Feet of Clay: The Canadian Banks: “I don’t know why Canadians are upset about bank profits. We’ve stopped screwing Canadians. Now we’re screwing foreigners.”

Scotiabank is a major player in a number of Latin American countries. Supporting Canada’s massive international mining industry, Scotiabank expanded into Peru to do more business with mining clients in 2006. The bank is also part of the regional corporate lobby group the Canadian Council of the Americas, which organizes talks, comments in the media and publishes reports, such as the 2015 “Canada in the Hemisphere Perspective Paper.”