Scotia Bank History

During the years from 1890 to 1919, which encompass the time span from when the Bank first started to settle outside the Maritimes until after the First World War, its average annual rate of growth had been 9% in real terms. In the 1910 – 1919 period, the decade of the acquisition of the three banks brought a growth rate of about 10.5%. In these years, the bank’s assets had more than doubled and its geographical coverage had greatly extended. A long process of consolidation was essential to turn four banks into one, and it is little wonder that a period of rapid expansion should have been succeeded by one of the more modest development. In the 20s, which was a time of excitement and growth for many businesses and most banks, the Scotia’s progress …show more content…
It had not been difficult to integrate failing banks into the structure because of the centralized control systems developed through the experience with the branch system. However, Scotiabank’s growth strategy had shifted he centre of gravity westward and had strained its capacity to exchange and process information because the communication technology of the day was limited. Given the slowness of communication, it became imperative that the Bank move its headquarters closer to the centre of its operations. During the years of 1879 to 1909, Henry C. McLeod was a man of action as the new Cashier of the Bank changed his title to General Manager in 1989. In the view of twenty one years that McLeod spent in the Bank’s service in Minneapolis, Chicago and Winnipeg, he was convinced that its centre of operations should be moved westward. In order for the Bank was to become a national institution and participate fully in the new prosperity, its headquarters needed to be more centrally located. The members of the Board, who were all Maritimers, unanimously accepted and supported McLeod’s proposal for moving the General Office of the Bank from Halifax to Toronto. In March of 1900, the General Office staff of the Bank was installed in Toronto in the Canada Life Building on the north side of King Street near Bay Street. McLeod’s emphasis of proper conduct of …show more content…
A. Richardson, entered Scotiabank just as a junior clerk, he progressed for twenty one years at various Maritime appointments. However, after ten additional years at the centre of affairs in Toronto, he formed his own ideas about managerial strategies and the proper course of the Bank. Deceptively mild and affable, he had a resilient, steely toughness and an exceptional gift for dealing with people. Though he was never physically strong, he was well known for his capacity for hard work and a great sense of humour which lacked in his former chief. His abilities, qualities and decisions brought the Bank into an even more enviable position of national strength. In June of 1910, Richardson embarked a tour of western Canada and envisioned further expansion. Yet when he returned it was to bemoan the cost of the premises of expansion, the cutthroat ways of largely established competitors and the external lack of staff. Of the 15 branches that the Bank had opened in the previous year itself (more than the Bank had ever opened in one year), there was not even one in the western Canadian region. When the first offer of the merger was made by the Bank of New Brunswick to the Bank of Ottawa, Richardson was eager yet his Bank had been pushed to its limits and without large amount of assets the deal could not happen. As the deal got more complicated, the more frustrated and competitive the Banks got. Many employees from the Bank left to join the other Bank