{"id":392826,"date":"2026-01-07T00:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392826\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T00:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:52:11","slug":"rising-u-s-influence-in-latin-america-could-benefit-scotiabanks-growth-plans-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392826\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising U.S. influence in Latin America could benefit Scotiabank\u2019s growth plans, CEO says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

While Scotiabank does not have operations in Venezuela, chief executive Scott Thomson says a shift in the political environment will benefit the region in the long term.Nathan Denette<\/p>\n

Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T<\/a> chief executive Scott Thomson said that an increasingly pro-business climate and rising U.S. influence in Latin America could benefit the lender\u2019s growth strategy. <\/p>\n

U.S. military action in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro \u2013 which were precursors to taking over the country\u2019s oil and energy resources \u2013 has prompted concerns about uncertainty in Latin America and challenges for Canadian oil producers. <\/p>\n

While Scotiabank does not have operations in Venezuela, a shift in the political environment will benefit the region in the long term after a \u201cbit of a lost decade in terms of growth,\u201d Mr. Thomson said at a Tuesday conference held by Royal Bank of Canada. <\/p>\n

U.S. control of Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves not a threat to Canadian producers, Carney says<\/a><\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in charge of Venezuela after Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s capture? Latest updates on Donald Trump\u2019s plans<\/a><\/p>\n

Scotiabank\u2019s international business is focused on Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia. The division is key to the lender\u2019s turnaround plan \u2013 which it launched in late 2023 \u2013 aimed at reallocating resources to North America to benefit from trade between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. <\/p>\n

Mr. Thomson pointed to Chile\u2019s election of right-wing candidate Jose Antonio Kast as president and Mexico\u2019s increasingly business-friendly administration under President Claudia Sheinbaum as examples of changing political winds in Latin America that are positive for economic growth. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re moving all these governments from left to right, or centre-right, and then you\u2019re seeing more U.S. influence, which plays very well to our Western Hemisphere strategy,\u201d Mr. Thomson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be or could be some bumps along the way here … but longer-term, this is a good thing for the Western Hemisphere, it\u2019s a good thing for the U.S., it\u2019s a good thing for the Bank of Nova Scotia.\u201d <\/p>\n

Toronto-Dominion Bank analyst Mario Mendonca said in a Monday note that the situation in Venezuela could cause Scotiabank to take a more cautious approach to credit in Latin America by increasing provisions for loan defaults and easing up on lending.<\/p>\n

Mr. Thomson said the \u201cTrump Doctrine\u201d \u2013 a recent adaptation of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine that opposed foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere \u2013 would be a positive development for growth. <\/p>\n

Venezuela is home to the world\u2019s largest reserves of oil, which is heavy crude similar to Canada\u2019s oil. U.S. involvement in Venezuela could lead to a surge of its oil in global markets, potentially posing a challenge for Canadian producers. <\/p>\n

Mr. Thomson said that added competition might accelerate Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s plans to build more energy infrastructure in Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs Venezuelan crude re-enters the system over the next five to 10 years, having another pipeline here for Canada is really important,\u201d Mr. Thomson said. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Scotiabank\u2019s chief executive Scott Thomson in Toronto in 2023.Niv Shimshon\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Carney reiterated that Canada<\/a> welcomed the removal of Mr. Maduro from government, saying that the change \u201ccreates the possibility for democratic transition in Venezuela.\u201d He added that increased oil production will benefit Venezuelans, but will not pose a threat to Canadian oil producers because it is lower risk. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Canadian oil tycoon Adam Waterous told The Globe and Mail that building a new pipeline to the B.C. coast<\/a> to increase access to global markets is now even more urgent. A pipeline would help prevent industry contraction if more Venezuelan oil enters the market, he said. <\/p>\n

At the conference on Tuesday, bank CEOs signalled that they expect continued growth this year as uncertainty around the U.S economy eases and expectations for Canada\u2019s economy improve. <\/p>\n

National Bank of Canada NA-T<\/a> chief executive Laurent Ferreira said there is a persistent reluctance to invest, even as Ottawa races to stem the loss of the U.S. as a reliable trading partner. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most concerning themes across the country are business investments that are on pause and this hesitation to invest in Canada,\u201d Mr. Ferreira said at the conference. <\/p>\n

Ottawa has been eager to bolster Canada\u2019s waning productivity and stagnant infrastructure investment. The economy has been more resilient than expected, he said. <\/p>\n

But, he added, the federal government must accelerate its decision-making process to tap Canada\u2019s energy resources, critical minerals and manufacturing capabilities. \u201cWe are in a state of economic war \u2013 is how I would summarize what\u2019s going on in the world right now.” <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to be part of the new world order, we need to speed this up.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: While Scotiabank does not have operations in Venezuela, chief executive Scott Thomson says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-392826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}