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'Aboriginal bank' flourishes in North
First Nations Bank of Canada plans more Northern expansion following strong fiscal 2011 financial results Thandiwe Vela Northern News Services Published Monday, January 23, 2012
As the domestic aboriginal market grows, the Saskatoon-based bank is growing along with it and seizing on increasing opportunity in the North. "We like the North, we think the North offers a lot of opportunity for our bank," said Arden Buskell, president and chief operating officer. "So we've been moving in that direction." According to fiscal 2011 financial results reported by the bank on Jan. 17, total assets for the institution topped $300 million, chairman and CEO Keith Martell stated, representing growth for the 14th straight year. "Growth is coming from both our long standing and our newly established branches, including our newest branch in Iqaluit, Nunavut," Martell added. "Our branch in Iqaluit has displayed in its first full year of operations the kind of growth that we expected from that market." The seventh branch in the country for the full-service, chartered bank opened in Iqaluit in June 2010, after Nunavut Land Claims Agreement subsidiary Atuqtuarvik Corp. became a major shareholder in the bank to expand banking services in the territory. The Rankin Inlet-based corporation, which now holds a 17.66 per cent interest in the institution, wanted to bring a bank that understood the aboriginal marketplace, CEO Ken Toner said. "Our studies showed that the First Nations bank was the right choice," Toner said, noting the majority aboriginal ownership, its bases on reservations and familiarity with the logistics in aboriginal communities. "They're very familiar with the no roads leading into town sort of thing," Toner joked. As a strategic partner, the bank has helped leverage funds for the corporation, which gives loans to viable Inuit businesses seeking between $150,000 and $3 million. "They listen to what we have to say and they're very sincere about growing the marketplace here, so we're happy to have them as our strategic partner," Toner said. Slightly over 80 per cent of the bank's shareholders are aboriginal groups and organizations. The remainder is owned by Toronto-Dominion Bank, which has been a part of the First Nation bank since it was founded in 1996, through a strategic alliance of the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation Inc., Federation of Saskatchewan Indians Inc., and TD Bank. Since then, the bank has grown from $10 million to over $300 million, is open to all people in Canada and provides a full suite of personal and commercial services, including personal lending, deposits and investments, with a primary focus on the aboriginal marketplace. "For us, aboriginal business is what we do each and everyday," Toner added. "It's not a sideline for us, it's what we focus on. So we have a deep understanding of really the cultural needs, and the needs of our customers, be it personal or commercial." About 60 per cent of the bank's employees are of aboriginal descent, its services to the aboriginal marketplace encompass many sectors, including infrastructure project financing to help meet the need for housing, water treatment plants, and schooling in communities across the country, and financing for start-up small business, oil and gas, and construction. The bank aims to have branches in locations where its shareholders are based, and its shareholders are located in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Quebec. In the Northwest Territories, Gwich’in Settlement Corp. holds just over seven per cent interest in the bank, but there is not yet a branch in the territory. In addition to plans to open three limited-service banking centres in other Nunavut hamlets currently without banking services within the next two years, the bank aims to establish a branch in Yellowknife, by as early as late 2013. "Northwest Territories, and in particular Yellowknife, is a hub for business in the area," Buskell said. "And by having a presence there we will in our view help grow our commercial and retail business."
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