TORONTO, ON and ALEXANDRIA, VA - December 08, 2016 /CNW/ - Scotiabank and QED Investors announced today a new and innovative partnership that will inject capital and industry expertise into select Latin American FinTech companies. The joint investment will create a venture capital platform that will identify, invest and promote the growth of innovative start-ups across the FinTech spectrum that look to improve customer products and experiences in Latin America.

As the manager of the fund, QED Investors will bring their deep expertise in the financial services sector and a track record of building groundbreaking FinTech businesses. Scotiabank will assist QED Investors in its evaluation of potential strategic investments in the Pacific Alliance countries (Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru) and bring strategic funding, resources, customers and experience in these markets. This fund will seek out companies in Latin American countries focused on financial technology disruptors.

"We are excited to partner with QED Investors as their experience and deep understanding of customer trends, FinTech business models and digital disruption will help us bring leading edge best practices in innovation to our customers," said Ignacio (Nacho) Deschamps, Group Head, International Banking and Digital Transformation at Scotiabank. "With QED's hands-on FinTech experience, we will be uniquely positioned to partner with the emerging ecosystem of FinTechs in Latin America. The business models of FinTechs are attractive to consumers and an opportunity for us to learn, invest and partner."

"We see significant opportunities for FinTechs in Latin America, and look forward to leveraging our entrepreneurial and operational expertise to the companies we will invest in," said Bill Cilluffo, a Partner in QED Investors responsible for Latin America. "Scotiabank is a natural partner for this fund due to its strong presence in the region and its ambitious digital transformation agenda."

Scotiabank's digital strategy has increased technology and customer experience investments over the past 18 months in pursuit of aggressive digital goals. Execution of this strategy has yielded the appointment of Silicon Valley tech leader Shawn Rose as Executive Vice President, Digital Banking; creation of the Digital Factories in Toronto, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, to build world-class digital customer experiences; investment in emerging areas such as analytics and machine learning; establishment of groundbreaking partnership models with leading business schools; and direct investment in innovative FinTechs like Kabbage and SecureKey.

QED Investors was co-founded by Nigel Morris, who also co-founded Capital One, and brings decades of experience as investors, operators and builders. Their approach is to share their knowledge and ability with the disruptors they choose to work with to help them navigate their rapid growth. QED has made investments in the US and the international FinTech industry, notably in Credit-Karma, Green Sky and many others. Over the last two years, QED has independently built a successful Latin American portfolio, including NuBank, Guiabolso, Pitzi, Bankfacil in Brazil, and has recently expanded this model to Mexico through its investment in Konfio.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $896 billion (as at October 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About QED Investors
QED Investors is a leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, VA. They are focused on investing in early stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. QED is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages their partners' and principals' decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping their companies achieve breakthrough growth. For more information, please visit www.qedinvestors.com.

Scotiabank media enquiries:
Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern
Public, Corporate and Government Affairs
Scotiabank
(416) 933-1344
Marcelo.Gomez-Wiuckstern@scotiabank.com

QED media enquiries:
Laurel Ostfield
QED Investors
(416) 300-3218
laurel@qedinvestors.com