Banco Santander SA has won a Canadian banking license as it continues its expansion across the Americas.
Canada’s banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, issued an order for Santander Consumer Bank to “commence and carry on business” early last month, according to a notice published in the government’s official newspaper over the weekend.
A representative for Santander confirmed it had secured a Canadian banking license but declined to elaborate on its plans for the country.
Spain’s largest bank has been hiring in the U.S. and rolling out a new digital bank in the country as well as in Mexico as it seeks to expand across the region. Chairwoman Ana Botin said last month that the company’s focus will “continue to be more on the Americas.”
Authorization of a new foreign player in Canada’s banking sector comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump falsely claimed that U.S. banks are not permitted to do business in the country. More than a dozen U.S. financial players operate in Canada and three have the same type of license as Santander, according to OSFI’s website.
The U.S. administration’s most recent report on foreign trade barriers, published Monday, does not mention any Canadian restrictions on financial institutions. Barriers to foreign competition in the banking sectors of other countries are detailed in the report.
Santander has had a presence in Canada for more than a decade after buying car-financing company Carfinco Financial Group. It applied in July, 2019 to become a Schedule II bank, which is a Canadian subsidiary of a foreign bank.
Such firms are permitted to carry out the same banking activities as domestic banks, including taking deposits, making loans, offering wealth management services and issuing credit cards. There are currently 15 such banks in Canada, according to OSFI’s website.
Canada’s Minister of Finance issued letters patent incorporating Santander Consumer Bank as a federally regulated financial institution last year and the OSFI approval was the only remaining hurdle.
Santander’s Canadian subsidiary, based in Edmonton, Alberta, had almost 300 employees and revenue of €76 million (US$82 million) in 2024. The company has previously said it will maintain the head office of its new bank in Edmonton.
Christine Dobby and Jorge Zuloaga, Bloomberg News
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