Big Five banks of Canada

Big Five is the name colloquially given to the five largest banks that dominate the banking industry of Canada: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD).

Not to be confused with Big Four (banking).

All of the five Canadian banks maintain their respective headquarters in Toronto's Financial District, primarily along Bay Street.[1][2] All five banks are classified as Schedule I banks that are domestic banks operating in Canada under government charter. The banks' shares are widely held, with any entity allowed to hold a maximum of twenty percent.[3]

According to a ranking produced by Standard & Poor's, in 2017, the Big Five banks of Canada are among the world's 100 largest banks, with TD Bank, RBC, Scotiabank, BMO, and CIBC at 26th, 28th, 45th, 52nd, and 63rd place, respectively.[4] RBC and TD Bank are also on the Financial Stability Board's list of systemically important banks as of 2020.[5]

The term “Big Six” is sometimes used to include Canada's next largest bank, National Bank of Canada.[6]

Overview

The Big Five banks, listed in order of market capitalization on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of year-ended 2022, with their current corporate brand names and corporate profiles according to their latest annual report, all monetary amounts are in billions of Canadian dollars, are:

Official name Bank brand(s) Operational headquarters Legal incorporation Assets (C$ bn) Revenue (C$ bn) Capitalization (C$ bn) Branches
(Canada only)		 Employees
(Full-time equivalent)		 Reference
Royal Bank of Canada RBC Royal Bank Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto[note 1][7] Halifax[8] $1,917.22 $48.99 $174.32 1,271 91,427 [9]
Toronto-Dominion Bank TD Canada Trust Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto[10] Toronto[10] $1,917.50 $46.17 $158.70 1,060 94,867 [11]
Bank of Montreal BMO Bank of Montreal First Canadian Place, Toronto[12][note 2] Montreal[12] $1,139.20 $33.71 $85.00 900 46,722 [13]
Bank of Nova Scotia Scotiabank (full-service)
Tangerine (direct)		 Scotia Plaza, Toronto[14] Halifax[14] $1,349.42 $31.42 $78.45 941 90,979 [15]
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CIBC (full-service)
Simplii Financial (direct)		 CIBC Square, Toronto[16] Toronto[17] $943.60 $21.83 $56.06 1,069 50,427 [18]

In modern history, Royal Bank (RBC) has always been the largest by a significant margin,[19] although TD Bank has caught up to RBC in recent years. Up to the late 1990s, CIBC was the second largest,[20] followed by Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, and TD Bank.[21] During the late 1990s and beyond, this ranking changed due to several reorganizations. Royal Bank acquired Royal Trust in 1993,[22] while Scotiabank purchased National Trust in 1997. As Scotiabank found no merger partners among the other banks in the big five group, it instead expanded its international operations and passed the Bank of Montreal in size. TD Bank merged with Canada Trust, which was for a long time the largest trust in Canada, thus vaulting TD into the number two spot.[22] While there were no major changes to Bank of Montreal, CIBC's first unsuccessful foray into the US market led it to shed its assets there, dropping it to the number five spot.[23]

Four of the Big Five Canadian banks have acquired independent investment banks, whose activities included corporate banking and full service brokerage. From 2000 onwards, these investment banking subsidiaries, RBC Dominion Securities, BMO Nesbitt Burns, CIBC Wood Gundy, and McLeod Young Weir Ltd., were all rebranded to RBC Capital Markets,[24] BMO Capital Markets,[25] CIBC World Markets, and Scotia Capital, respectively. Nonetheless, their bank holding company parent still use the old names as a brand for their full service brokerage under wealth management, plus the old name still remains the broker dealer subsidiary for their investment bank in Canada.

Other large Canadian banks

All monetary amounts are in billions C$, updated as of year-ended 2021.

Official names Operational head office Assets (C$ bn) Deposits (C$ bn) Capitalization (C$ bn) Branches
(Canada only)		 Employees
(Full-time equivalent)		 Reference
National Bank of Canada Complexe Maisonneuve, Montreal $355.80 $240.94 $34.62 384 26,920 [26]
HSBC Bank Canada HSBC Canada Building, Vancouver $119.85 $73.63 N/A 130+ 5,500+ [27]
Laurentian Bank of Canada 1360 René-Lévesque, Montreal $45.08 $23.00 ? 58 2,871 [28]
Canadian Western Bank Canadian Western Bank Place, Edmonton $37.32 $29.98 ? 40+ 2,617 [29]
Equitable Bank Equitable Bank Tower, Toronto $36.16 $20.70 $2.348 0 1,161 [30]

Large non-bank financial institutions

All monetary amounts are in billions C$, updated as of year-ended 2021.

Official names Operational head office Assets (C$ bn) Branches
(Canada only)		 Employees
(Full-time equivalent)		 Reference
Desjardins Group Lévis, Quebec, Canada $397.09 ? 53,783 [31]
ATB Financial ATB Place, Edmonton $55.76 162 5,044 [32]

Desjardins Group and ATB Financial are major regional financial institutions. Desjardins, a federation of 313 autonomous credit unions (French: caisses populaires), is one of the largest financial institutions in Quebec and also operates in some regions of Ontario with substantial Franco-Ontarian populations. ATB Financial (formerly Alberta Treasury Branches) is a Crown corporation owned by the Alberta provincial government that was originally established in 1938 after the province's attempt to impose social credit policies on federally-regulated banks failed.

Proposed mergers

In 1998, the Bank of Montreal proposed a merger with the Royal Bank of Canada around the same time that CIBC proposed to combine with the Toronto-Dominion Bank.[22] The banks argued that these mergers would enable them to compete globally with other financial institutions.[33] This would have left Canada with only three major national banks. The mergers were reviewed by the Competition Bureau of Canada, which declared that negative effects (such as higher user fees and local branch closures) from the mergers would far outweigh the benefits of allowing the mergers. Ultimately, it was then Finance Minister Paul Martin who rejected both proposed mergers.[34][35] The issue since has not been revisited by succeeding Finance Ministers; it has been cited as a reason that the Canadian economy easily weathered the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis compared to other nations, and the aforementioned recognition of numerous Canadian banks on the Bloomberg 2011 list of twenty strongest large banks in the world.[36][37]

Potential foreign forays

The weakness of the Canadian dollar and high U.S. bank stock prices were commonly cited as obstacles to purchasing assets south of the border. However the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis reversed this trend. In the aftermath of the crisis, the Canadian dollar steadily climbed against the U.S. dollar, achieving parity in early 2008 and trading as high as 30 cents above the USD in late 2008. The strength of the Canadian dollar and the relative weakness of U.S. bank prices have led commentators to suggest that the big five banks could consider an expansion into the United States.

Because of the recent recession, Royal Bank of Canada has now eclipsed Morgan Stanley in terms of market valuation. According to figures compiled by a recent Bloomberg report, investors today are willing to pay about $2.60 for every dollar of book value at a Canadian bank, compared with $1.70 in the United States. That ratio is about the reverse of where it stood in late 1999.[38]

The last time the U.S. financial markets were weak, many Canadian bank CEOs were criticized for not making a more concerted buying effort. Some believed that these CEOs preferred to wait for Ottawa to allow domestic mergers before expanding into the US. The federal government ended up refusing to allow the mergers and is unlikely to do so now. Analysts also pointed out that Canadian banks have much stronger balance sheets today than they did 10 or 15 years ago, putting them in an even better position to be aggressive.[38]

In October 2007, TD purchased Commerce Bancorp, a medium-sized US bank with a strong branch network in the Mid-Atlantic states and Florida. As of March 2008, their stated plan was to merge Commerce with their existing TD Banknorth subsidiary, calling the new bank TD Commerce Bank.[39] However, Commerce Bank based in Worcester, Massachusetts challenged the new name. As a result, TD renamed its US subsidiary TD Bank at end of 2009.[40] TD is the sixth-largest bank by branch network in North America, after JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, and US Bank. It is also the largest foreign bank in the United States holding almost $200 billion (USD) in deposits.

Banking regulation
Main article: Banking in Canada § Regulation

Canada's federal government has sole jurisdiction for banks according to the Canadian Constitution, specifically Section 91(15) of The Constitution Act 1867 (30 & 31 Victoria, c.3 (UK)), formerly known as the British North America Act 1867.[41] Meanwhile, credit unions/caisses populaires, securities dealers and mutual funds are largely regulated by provincial governments.[42]

The main federal statute for the incorporation and regulation of banks, or chartered banks, is the Bank Act (S.C. 1991, c.46), where Schedules I, II and III of this Act list all banks permitted to operate in Canada under these three distinct categories.[43]

See also

Notes
  1. Royal Bank of Canada lists Royal Bank Plaza as its corporate headquarters, and Place Ville Marie as its head office.
  2. The official head office of the Bank of Montreal is located on Saint Jacques Street, Montreal, although First Canadian Place serves as the Bank of Montreal's operational headquarters.

References
  1. Hazel Duffy (2004). Competitive Cities: Succeeding in the Global Economy. Taylor & Francis. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-203-36231-0. Canada's five largest banks and 80% of the foreign banks in Canada are headquartered in Toronto, as well as five Canadian pension plans and Canada's top insurers, which are responsible for 90% of the national industry's assets.
  2. Keith Dinnie (2011). City Branding: Theory and Cases. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-230-24185-5. Toronto is home to 40 per cent of the nation's business headquarters... many of the corporate global players are headquartered there: three of the world's 25 largest banks and all of Canada's five largest.
  3. "Bank Act - Part VII: Ownership of Banks". Archived from the original on October 4, 2012.
  4. Mehmood, JahanZaib. "The world's 100 largest banks". S&P Global Market Intelligence. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "2020 list of global systemically important banks (G-SIBs)". www.fsb.org. November 11, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  6. Staff, Investopedia (March 12, 2008). "Big Six Banks". Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  7. "Royal Bank of Canada: Annual Report 2010" (PDF). RBC. 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  8. Yusufali, Sasha. "Royal Bank of Canada" (PDF). Royal Bank of Canada. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  9. "2022 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. Royal Bank of Canada. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  10. "2013 Annual Report: Note 1" (PDF). TD Bank Group. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  11. "2022 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. TD Bank Financial Group. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  12. Christopher Kennedy (August 9, 2011). Evolution of Great world Cities: Urban Wealth and Economic Growth. University of Toronto Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-4426-9477-4.
  13. "2022 Annual Report to Shareholders" (PDF). Investor Relations. BMO Financial Group. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  14. Ian Bushnell (2013). The Federal Court of Canada: A History, 1875-1992. Scotiabank. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-8020-4207-1.
  15. "2022 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. Scotiabank. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  16. "CIBC Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. 2022. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  17. Mike Filey (2002). A Toronto Album 2: More Glimpses of the City That Was. Dundurn. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-55488-059-1.
  18. "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Investor Relations. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  19. Hayton, James; Biron, Michal; Christiansen, Liza Castro Castro; Kuvaas, Bård (2012). Global Human Resource Management Casebook. CRC Press. p. 581. ISBN 978-1-136-66324-6.
  20. Jones, Steven D.; Beyerlein, Michael M.; Phillips, Jack J. (1998). Developing High-Performance Work Teams. American Society for Training and Development. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-56286-079-0. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  21. Wesson, Thomas James (2007). Canada and the New World Economic Order: Strategic Briefings for Canadian Enterprise. Captus Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-1-55322-063-3.
  22. Clement, Wallace; Vosko, Leah F. (2003). Changing Canada: Political Economy as Transformation. McGill-Queen's Press. pp. 250–251. ISBN 978-0-7735-7099-3.
  23. Robertson, Grant (April 25, 2013). "CIBC re-enters U.S., after being badly burned before". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  24. Partridge, John (August 21, 2001). "Royal Bank gets a makeover". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  25. Mavin, Duncan (June 16, 2006). "BMO ads aim to increase U.S. presence". National Post. p. FP5 – via Factiva.
  26. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. National Bank of Canada. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  27. "2021 Annual Report and Accounts". All reporting. HSBC Bank Canada. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  28. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. Laurentian Bank of Canada. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  29. "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). Investor Relations. Canadian Western Bank. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  30. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Investor Relations. Equitable Bank. February 7, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  31. "2021 Annual Report Desjardins Group". Investor Relations. Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
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  34. Trent, Peter F. (2012). Merger Delusion. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-7735-3932-7.
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  38. "The snowbirds of Bay Street". The Globe and Mail. November 3, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
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  40. "Commerce Bank name to vanish, replaced by TD Bank". Reuters. October 31, 2008. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
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  42. Canada: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes--Data Module, Response by the Authorities, and Detailed Assessments Using Data Quality Assessment Framework. International Monetary Fund. October 2003. p. 131. GGKEY:7K0G04ZL1HJ.
  43. "Bank of Canada Act". Laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
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