Bank of Nova Scotia

is beefing up its U.S. footprint and Dallas is offering as much as US$2.7 million in incentives to win the lender’s next regional office.

The city council unanimously approved the financial package Wednesday, contingent on Scotiabank leasing at least 8,800 square metres of office space in Dallas by the end of the year. The city is dangling the incentives as Scotiabank also considers Charlotte, North Carolina, for a new U.S. office, according to the council’s grant resolution.

Scotiabank is weighing a new Dallas location as

Wall Street

mainstays boost their presence in the city.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

is building a US$500 million hub with room for over 5,000 workers, while

Bank of America Corp.

will take 238,000 square feet in a new tower nearby. Wells Fargo & Co. is building a US$500 million, 8.9-hectare campus in Irving, Texas, just outside Dallas.

According to the Dallas city council, Scotiabank’s expansion in the city would relocate or create about 1,025 full-time jobs with an average salary of at least US$135,000. Scotiabank would invest about US$60 million in the project, according to the city.

The Toronto-based bank didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Scotiabank is in the midst of a turnaround effort under Scott Thomson, who became chief executive in 2023 and is aiming to prioritize capital spending in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico ahead of other international markets.

The bank currently has U.S. offices in New York, San Francisco and Houston.

  • Bank execs hope for economic ‘green shoots’
  • Scotiabank posts higher global banking profits

In June, it hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. veteran Alton McDowell as global head of corporate banking, based in Houston. A year ago, Scotiabank recruited a team of seven from JPMorgan to launch a new mortgage capital markets team in Houston.

With assistance from Christine Dobby

Bloomberg.com