TORONTO and MEXICO CITY, Dec. 3, 2012 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Crédito Familiar, having received all necessary approvals. The terms of the transaction are not financially material and were not disclosed. The acquisition was announced in August 2012.

"Scotiabank is focused on building on our growing and profitable global consumer and micro finance platform and Crédito Familiar will be a key part of that," said Wendy Hannam, Scotiabank's Executive Vice President of Sales & Service and Products & Marketing for International Banking. "A key element of Scotiabank's international growth strategy is to expand our presence in underserved markets where we currently operate and Crédito Familiar offers us that opportunity in Mexico."

Crédito Familiar was established in 1996 and today includes 246 branches and approximately 2,400 employees across Mexico. The firm, which was acquired by Banamex in 2007, serves more than 145,000 customers with an average loan size of just over US$1,500.

"The acquisition of Crédito Familiar will support Scotiabank's continued focus on growth in Mexico by giving us significant scale and presence in a market where we see real potential for growth," said Troy Wright, President and CEO of Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Mexico. "We believe there is a lot of potential for synergies between our consumer & micro finance and retail businesses as customers succeed and their needs for banking services grow."

As part of Scotiabank's increased focus on consumer and micro finance, the Bank recently created a specialized divisional segment team, based in Peru, to manage these businesses across the Caribbean and Latin America. The new consumer and micro finance team will share best-practices in this segment to drive prudent growth and collaboration.

"Consumer and micro finance is a segment where Scotiabank sees great potential for growth, and the acquisition of Crédito Familiar complements our operations across the Caribbean and Latin America," said Carlos González-Taboada, Scotiabank's Head of Consumer and Micro finance. "We will leverage our proven business models and experiences in countries like Peru to provide solutions to Crédito Familiar customers, reach new ones, and grow the business."

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank's Latin American footprint includes operations in Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 81,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates serve some 19 million customers in more than 55 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets of $670 billion (as at July 31, 2012), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

SOURCE: Scotiabank