Scotiabank Jamaica wins Global Finance award

Scotiabank has won the 2013 Best Emerging Markets Bank in Jamaica award from Global Finance Magazine, a leading trade publication.



Grouped within the Latin American region category, Scotiabank is one of 25 regional banks and one of six in the English-Speaking Caribbean to have won this recognition, the bank said in a release.



The award is the result of the bank’s performance for fiscal year 2012 in key areas such as total assets, asset growth, market share, return on equity, earnings, competitive performance and key developments within the period.



“We have been very disciplined and deliberate about sticking to our core business principles of prudent risk management, and playing to our strengths as we seek to fulfil our mission of helping our clients to be financially better off,” said Scotiabank’s president and chief executive officer, Bruce Bowen.



“We continue to innovate in the area of product development to better serve the diverse needs of our large and varied client base and are pleased that our efforts continue to earn us global recognition as the best bank in Jamaica,” he added.



Scotiabank last year reported that all its business lines produced solid results with growth in loans and deposits, decrease in credit losses and addition of new products by Scotia Insurance and Scotia Investments.



Net income was $10.5 billion and earnings per share of $3.26 with return on average equity of 16.11 per cent. Its asset base, as at January 2013, stood at $375 billion.



Publisher of Global Finance, Joseph Giarraputo, in a release announcing the winners, said that “each region and individual country presents unique challenges for banks and their customers, especially under the difficult conditions global financial markets continue to face."



As a result, “customers must depend on excellence in execution from their banking partners. These are the banks that are providing best-in-class solutions for these distinctive markets," the release said.



Winners are selected by editors of Global Finance Magazine with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and banking consultants.



business@gleanerjm.com