TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today announced that Wendy Hannam has been appointed Executive Vice President, Latin America.

"Throughout her career with Scotiabank, Wendy has made many significant contributions to driving business growth and reinforcing the strength of our team," said Scotiabank CEO Rick Waugh. "In her new role, Wendy will provide leadership as we continue to build our Latin American operations."

In this role Wendy will oversee Scotiabank's growing personal and commercial Latin American operations. She will also be responsible for all consumer and microfinance businesses in the International Banking division. Latin America continues to be strategically important to Scotiabank and in this role, Wendy will drive growth and will work closely with partners in Global Banking and Markets and Global Wealth Management to maximize the opportunities in these developing markets. Wendy will report to Dieter Jentsch, Group Head, International Banking.

Wendy joined Scotiabank in 1983 as a commercial account manager and has held progressively senior roles in commercial banking, risk management, product and sales management. She was most recently Executive Vice-President Sales and Service, Products and Marketing for Scotiabank's International Banking division.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Memorial University and Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD (European Institute of Business).

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. In December 2012, Scotiabank became the first Canadian bank to be named Global Bank of the Year and Bank of the Year in the Americas by The Banker magazine, A Financial Times publication.With assets of $668 billion (as at October 31, 2012), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

SOURCE: Scotiabank