| Bank of Nova Scotia Building | |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 15 |
| Status: | Occupied |
| Building Type: | Bank-office |
| Location: | Habana Vieja |
| Address: | Calles O´Really y Cuba |
| Location City: | Ciudad de La Habana |
| Est Completion: | 1906 |
| Renovation Date: | 2014 |
| Destruction Date: | --> |
| Structural System: | Steel frame |
| Floor Count: | 4 |
| Unit Count: | --> |
Bank of Nova Scotia Building, Havana is a Neoclassical-style bank building located at the intersection of Calle O´Reilly and Calle Cuba in old Havana.
Built in 1906, the building was branch and business offices for Canadian-based Bank of Nova Scotia in the early 20th century. Additional floors were added in 1914 to the original two-floor building. It also served as a Scotiabank's branch in Havana and sold to a local bank Banco Metropolitano S.A. (founded 1996).[1]
Once one of the most important foreign banks in Cuba, Scotiabank is one of the few foreign banks allowed to retain offices in the country after 1959.[1] Today Scotiabank focusses on business banking (after approval in 2011[2]) and no longer operates banking branches (ceased in 1959 when all non-Cuban banks closed operations and transferred to Banco Nacional de Cuba) in Cuba.[3] [4]
Rival Royal Bank of Canada operated in Cuba from 1899 with 24 branches (from high of 65 in the 1920s) when it was forced to sell their operations in 1960.[5] A former branch building in Havana and is being renovated since 2012 after sitting vacant[6]