Scotiabank says Rick Waugh will retire as chief executive officer this fall, closing a decade-long chapter at the helm of one of the country’s big five banks and a career spanning 43 years at the bank.
The new CEO will be Brian Porter, who has been president since last last November – and the odds-on favourite since to be Waugh’s successor.
Waugh will remain a director of the bank and become deputy chairman until next January, the bank said in a release.
Get weekly money news
The transition comes as Scotia and other Canadians banks are bracing for a slowdown in domestic banking, led by a cooling residential real-estate market.
The pace of home sales has fallen across most Canadian cities, prices meanwhile are growing at the slowest rate in more than two years — and in some cases, like in Vancouver, have begun to decline.
Scotia and others, like TD Bank, are pinning growth hopes in part on their U.S. operations, where job growth, robust corporate earnings and steady gains in house prices have improved the economy and consumer confidence.
Scotiabank earned $1.6 billion in its latest quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the second quarter of 2012. Revenue totalled $5.22 billion, up from $4.7 billion a year ago.
Prior to his appointment to president last fall, Porter had been head of international banking.
Comments