The death of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and the closely watched transition of power that is to follow are reminders that Bank of Nova Scotia's status as Canada's most international bank also means it operates in countries where things can get interesting fast. So what's at stake for the bank in Venezuela?
Not very much. If there's one foreign market where Scotia operates where the bank can afford turmoil, it's Venezuela.
The bank has a representative office and owns a small stake in a Venezuelan bank, Banco del Caribe, which has 113 branches. Scotiabank owns 27 per cent of Banco del Caribe, a stake it purchased in 1997. Some sources list Banco del Caribe as the seventh-largest bank in Venezuela.
Scotiabank's latest quarterly results, out Tuesday, list $188-million in exposure to Venezuela. That's the smallest of all the Latin American and Asian markets where Scotiabank operates. By comparison, exposure to Mexico was $5.6-billion, Chile was $6.4-billion and China was $6.9-billion.
Set against the bank's $764-billion in assets, Venezuela is insignificant.
Scotiabank shareholders certainly aren't concerned. The stock was on the rise in early trading on Wednesday.
(Boyd Erman is a Globe and Mail Reporter & Streetwise Columnist.)
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