The Tribune

Scotiabank has been named Bank of the Year in the Caribbean by LatinFinance.

Kevin Teslyk, Scotiabank Bahamas’ managing director; said: “We are extremely honoured to receive this wonderful recognition and to celebrate in the outstanding achievements of our team here in the Bahamas and across the region.

“We believe this is yet another testament to our sound risk management practices, matched by the commitment to customer-centric solutions and shared the passion we have across Scotiabank to help clients discover what’s possible.”

Bruce Bowen, Scotiabank senior vice-president for the Caribbean region, added: “Scotiabank has had a presence in the Caribbean for almost 125 years, and today we have the largest presence of any financial services company in the region.

“We have built our success by staying focused on our customers to help them ‘discover what’s possible’ while investing in our people and supporting our communities across the Caribbean.”

The winner is chosen by LatinFinance editors through weighing financial data and market opinion, including those of analyst and rating agencies between July 2012 and June 2013.

Banks are judged in the following categories:

* Financial strength, including capitalisation and liquidity.

* Strategy and adaptation with economic and regulatory changes in the countries where it operates.

* Growth, including acquisitions and capital markets activity.

* The market perception of the brand and public transparency.

“In the case of Bank of the Year in the Caribbean, we recognise that the period was a challenging one for the region and its banks,” said Taimur Ahmad, editor-in-chief of LatinFinance.

“Scotiabank stood out for its large regional footprint, sound risk management practices, and range of services, which leaves the bank well placed to profit under unstable economic activity. Scotiabank is also widely praised by analysts and other experts we surveyed researching this category.”