Rating Rationale
December 31, 2020 | Mumbai
The Bank of Nova Scotia
Rating Reaffirmed 
 
Rating Action
Rs.500 Crore Certificate of Deposits Programme CRISIL A1+ (Reaffirmed)
1 crore = 10 million
Refer to annexure for Details of Instruments & Bank Facilities
Detailed Rationale

CRISIL has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL A1+' rating on the certificates of deposit programme of the Indian branch operations of The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank).
 
CRISIL's rating on the certificates of deposit programme of Scotiabank India continues to be based on Standard & Poor's (S&P's) outstanding foreign currency ratings of 'A+/Stable/A-1' on Scotiabank, the ultimate parent of Scotiabank India.
 
S&P's ratings reflect Scotiabank's strong market position as the third-largest bank in Canada, robust and consistent profitability record, stronger asset quality metrics than those of global peers operating in similar economic risk regions, and diversification in terms of line of business and geography. These strengths are partially offset by the bank's higher dependence on wholesale funding than domestic peers, and risks associated with expanding investments in emerging markets (although somewhat compensated with higher margin and a more focussed footprint).
 
With nationwide lockdown restrictions being lifted steadily in a phased manner, the degree of relaxations vary across regions and depends on the severity of Covid-19. Intermittent lockdowns and localised restrictions could delay the return of collections to normalcy and put pressure on asset quality metrics. Scotiabank India's ability to manage asset quality and collections will remain a key monitorable. Nevertheless, the one-time restructuring scheme announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will provide necessary support to affected borrowers.
 
As part of the measures for containing the pandemic, RBI had allowed lenders to grant moratorium to borrowers; however, none of the borrowers availed the benefit of moratorium as on August 31, 2020. Furthermore, CRISIL understands that Scotiabank India has not opted for any moratorium from lenders and continues to service the debt as per schedule.

Analytical Approach

CRISIL's rating on the Indian branch operations of Scotiabank continues to be based on the mapping of S&P's ratings on Scotiabank onto CRISIL's rating scale. 

Key Rating Drivers & Detailed Description
Strength
* Adequate capitalisation
Scotiabank India has adequate capitalisation for its scale of operations, with net worth of Rs 1,816 crore, Tier-I capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 40.7%, and overall CAR of 41.7% as on September 30, 2020 (Rs 1,801 crore, 30.6%, and 31.7%, respectively, as on March 31, 2020). The bank intends to maintain minimum CAR well above the regulatory requirement, primarily comprising Tier I Capital on a steady-state basis. Scotiabank should remain committed to support Scotiabank India's operations over the medium term.

Weaknesses
* Modest scale of operations
Scotiabank India's scale of operations is modest. As on September 30, 2020, it had an asset base of Rs 6,419 crore (Rs 6,152 crore as on March 31, 2020) and two branches, Mumbai and New Delhi. Its primary sources of revenue are short-term corporate and commercial lending, trade finance and foreign exchange. As on September 30, 2020, the bank's deposits stood at Rs 4,018 crore and net advances at Rs 1,019 crore. Deposits grew by ~39%, while advances de-grew by ~47% y-o-y as on September 30, 2020.
 
The loan book has declined since the past few years to Rs 1,019 crore as on September 30, 2020, from Rs 5,123 crore as on March 31, 2016, as a result of the management's decision to consolidate its operations to service large wholesale accounts and exit the bullion segment (which was around 57% of the portfolio as of March 2016) in line with its global strategy. Scotiabank India should remain a small player in the Indian banking space over the medium term.
 
* Chunky asset portfolio leading to volatile asset quality
Being a wholesale lender, Scotiabank India has a chunky asset portfolio; its top 20 advances constituted 66% of its overall advances as on March 31, 2020, leading to volatile asset quality. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a proportion of gross advances increased to 3.6% as on March 31, 2020, from 2.8% a year earlier. This further increased to 6.3% as on September 30, 2020, on account of de-growth in advances. There were no fresh slippages in last couple of fiscals and GNPA in absolute terms has remained stable at Rs 68 crore as on September 30, 2020. Moreover, net NPA remained nil as on September 30, 2020 (nil a year earlier as well).
Liquidity Superior

Liquidity remains healthy, supported by excess statutory liquidity ratio of around Rs 4,180 crore (99.7% of net demand and time liabilities) as on November 30, 2020. Asset-liability profile is well-matched, with positive cumulative mismatches in all maturity buckets as on September 30, 2020. The liquidity coverage ratio was 344% as on November 30, 2020, against the regulatory requirement of 90%. Liquidity also benefits from access to systemic sources of funds, such as the liquidity adjustment facility from the Reserve Bank of India and access to the call money market.

Rating Sensitivity Factors:
Downward factors
* Downgrade in the rating of The Bank of Nova Scotia (parent entity) by S&P by one category.
* Weakening of asset quality and earnings profile on a continuous basis.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is one of Canada's three dominant universal banks. Its operations are structured around four primary business lines: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth and insurance and global banking, and markets). As on October 31, 2020, the bank had total asset base of Canadian dollars (CAD) 1,136.5 billion (Rs 63.66 lakh crore@) and total reported revenue of CAD 31.3 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore@) for the year ended October 31, 2020.

Scotiabank's domestic and international distribution channels are supported by its branches and offices in over 33 countries and more than 90,000 employees.

About Scotiabank (India)
Scotiabank commenced its Indian operations in 1982 by setting up a representative office in Mumbai (in 1984, the representative office was upgraded to a full-service branch). The bank has branches in Mumbai and New Delhi. Scotiabank India reported net profit of Rs 46 crore in fiscal 2020 (Rs 40 crore in fiscal 2019) on total income (net of interest charges) of Rs 165 crore (Rs 175 crore in fiscal 2019).

@Exchange rate as on October 31, 2020: 1CAD = Rs 56.012.

Key Financial Indicators
For the half year ended September 30 Unit 2020 2019
Total assets Rs crore 6419 5673
Total income Rs crore 142 168
Profit After Tax  (PAT) Rs crore 15 36
Gross NPA % 6.3 3.6
Net NPA % Nil Nil
Overall capital adequacy ratio % 41.7 31.4
Return on average total assets (annualised) % 0.5 1.2

Any other information: Not applicable

Note on complexity levels of the rated instrument:
CRISIL complexity levels are assigned to various types of financial instruments and are included (where applicable) in the Annexure -- Details of Instrument in this Rating Rationale. For more details on the CRISIL complexity levels, please visit www.crisil.com/complexity-levels.
Annexure - Details of Instrument(s)
ISIN Name of instrument Date of allotment Coupon
rate (%)
Maturity date Issue
size
(Rs.Crore)
Complexity Levels Rating assigned  with outlook
NA Certificate of Deposits Programme NA NA 7-365 Days 500 Simple CRISIL A1+
Annexure - Rating History for last 3 Years
  Current 2020 (History) 2019  2018  2017  Start of 2017
Instrument Type Outstanding Amount Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Date Rating Rating
Certificate of Deposits  ST  500.00  CRISIL A1+      24-12-19  CRISIL A1+  26-12-18  CRISIL A1+  28-12-17  CRISIL A1+  CRISIL A1+ 
All amounts are in Rs.Cr.
Links to related criteria
Rating Criteria for Banks and Financial Institutions
Mapping global scale ratings onto CRISIL scale

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