Brian Porter

CEO, Scotiabank

BANKING, I have experienced debt DURING MY 40-YEAR CAREER IN crises in Asia and Latin America; the dot-com bubble; and of course, the global financial crisis of 2007-08. But the COVID-19 pandemic was different: This was a health crisis with financial consequences, not a financial crisis. But my experience told me this: When you operate from a set of strong principles, trust your team, have patience and a willingness to communicate, you are well equipped to deal with whatever fate hands you.

Communication was non-stop for us. I would have short calls throughout the day with team members and in between them, calls with customers, government officials, regulators and competitors. It was pretty chaotic — more like playing improvisational jazz than conducting a symphony orchestra, as Dan Rees, our head of Canadian banking, described it — but the calls were effective in keeping a constant flow of information moving. That was an approach I favoured even before the pandemic.

Some of my favourite moments were visits to our branches — delivering coffee and Sobeys gift cards to thank our teams on the front lines for their courage and dedication. Some of our competitors closed hundreds of branches, but Dan refused to overreact. We knew many customers — including the elderly and small businesses — preferred to visit our branches in person. Dan decided to keep as many of our more than 900 branches open as possible — 98 per cent in total — but with shorter hours and with the most comprehensive health measures we could implement. Meanwhile, from our call centres, we proactively reached out to our customers to offer assistance before they asked for it. Banking has always been about one thing: relationships. And the strongest relationships are forged during challenging times.