National Bank of Canada (NA) TD Financial Services & Fintech Summit summary

Strategic focus and business model

• Maintains a domestic focus with deep expertise in Canadian markets, expanding internationally only in areas of strength and one product at a time.

• Business mix is designed to be both cyclical and countercyclical, enabling resilience during market volatility.

• Emphasizes liquidity, technology, and nimble capital deployment, especially in securities finance and structured products.

• Risk management is prioritized across cycles, leveraging experience from past crises.

Impact of interest rate changes

• Recent Bank of Canada rate cuts are expected to positively impact corporate activity and reopen capital markets.

• Debt capital markets have been strong and are projected to continue growing with further rate cuts.

• Equity capital markets and M&A activity are anticipated to broaden and accelerate.

• Strong equity markets benefit trading and structured product issuance, leading to active investor engagement.

U.S. and international expansion

• Expanding in the U.S. through USD debt deals and structured products for institutions, not retail.

• Focuses on niches where it can maintain pricing power and relevance, avoiding low-margin, high-competition areas.

• Opened a Paris office to cover continental SSA clients, leveraging Canadian expertise.

• U.S. market entry is selective, targeting products like commodity-based and synthetic products.