(Bloomberg) — Bank of Nova Scotia hired Francisco Aristeguieta to run its international operations, one of the first major moves by new Chief Executive Officer Scott Thomson as he begins to put his stamp on the bank.
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Aristeguieta, who starts May 1, comes from State Street Corp., where he held the role of CEO of institutional services since 2020. He spent 25 years at Citigroup Inc., where he performed senior executive jobs in Latin America and Asia.
Ignacio Deschamps, Scotiabank’s current international head, will retire at the end of April, according to a statement from the Toronto-based bank on Monday. Deschamps had been seen as a contender for the top job, but lost out to Thomson.
“This move underscores our belief that new CEO Scott Thomson is reviewing the bank’s Latin American operations and that very little, aside from Mexico, is exempt from scrutiny,” Barclays analyst John Aiken said in a note. Scotiabank rose 0.4% to C$67.78 at 10:12 a.m. in Toronto.
Read more: Scotiabank’s CEO Pick Spurs Debate Over Whether Changes Loom
Thomson was a surprise pick to succeed Brian Porter, a Scotiabank board member who beat out a number of internal senior executives in the CEO race. He has promised a broad strategy review that’s sure to encompass the lender’s vast Latin America operations, which produced 25% of Scotiabank’s profit in the most recent quarter.
Porter pruned parts of Scotiabank’s international unit, choosing to focus on a handful of key markets including Mexico, Chile and Peru, where it’s in the top five among banks. It’s a strategy that differs from Canada’s other big lenders, which have mostly pursued foreign expansion in the US via ownership of regional or commercial banks.
For that reason, Scotiabank has been largely insulated from the turmoil that followed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month. Its shares are up 0.5% since the beginning of March, versus a nearly 7% decline for the S&P/TSX Composite Commercial Banks Index.
Aristeguieta “will bring his experience and leadership to help us drive engagement and deliver for our customers in our international markets,” Thomson said in the statement. “As we look to refresh our strategy this year, Francisco will be a strong complement to our leadership team and will play a central role in helping us deliver long-term profitable and sustainable growth for our shareholders.”
(Updates with analyst comment, share price in fourth paragraph)
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