Mumbai: Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), which recently opened its new Chinese commercial branch in Shanghai, is planning a big push into India to secure a larger share of business in world's second fastest growing economy.

The bank, which had a marginal presence in India for more than two decades, expects to expand its presence in India's banking sector with new branches.

Rob Pitfield, executive vice-president, says the bank is seeking to establish a strong relationship with regulators, which could open the door to future expansion opportunities.

He said the bank has currently five branches in India serving retail and commercial customers and is looking at growth through acquisitions that could include banks or financial service companies.

"India and China are two fantastic countries that we are very interested in, so we are continually working with the government to see what they would be willing to permit us to do," Pitfield said.

He said the bank is working with regulators in India and China to expand operations in these countries. "They decide how they want to see their financial services industry expand, and we think it's natural that when you decide to expand you do it with proven entities that have stood the test of time and that you trust," Pitfield said.

Major Canadian banks like Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank have been heading to the United States to fulfill their global aspirations.

Scotiabank has taken an alternative route, pushing into emerging markets such as Latin America, China and India.

With the addition of the Shanghai branch, the bank will have six branches in China. First establishing in India and China during the early 1980s, Scotiabank has been setting up a new operation once every few years.

Driven by strong revenue growth and higher asset volumes across three business lines, due in part to several recent strategic acquisitions, Scotiabank reported record earnings in the third quarter of 2006.

Net income during the quarter rose to $936 million, an increase of 19 per cent over last year. The quarter reflected strong growth in sustainable revenue and the bank
expects to post a 12 per cent increase in fourth quarter profit.

With branches and offices in some 50 countries and 51,000 employees worldwide, Bank of Nova Scotia and its affiliates provide a broad range of retail, commercial, corporate, investment and international banking services to millions of customers around the globe.