Scotiabank poaches director from UOB

Bank of Nova Scotia has hired Joe Toh from United Overseas Bank. Toh will join the Canadian bank at director level and will work in the treasury team under its managing director, Scott Clements, in Singapore.

He will be responsible for the bank's credit trading book and will help manage regional portfolios and credit exposures. During his time at UOB Toh worked in a similar role, gaining experience in the fixed income and derivatives markets.

Scotiabank posted record full-year results at the start of December and is expecting 2004 to be another good year. Excluding extraordinary charges incurred in Argentina in 2002, the bank's net income rose 6% to $2.48 billion and return on equity was up to 17.6% from 16.6% last year. In Asia, the bank's net income rose substantially compared to 2002 thanks to lower credit losses and higher fee income, but the strong Canadian dollar dampened results somewhat. Excluding the effect of foreign currency translation, asset volumes continued to grow, rising 4% from last year.