Strong business position as Canada's third-largest bank Robust and consistent profitability record Stronger asset quality metrics than those of global peers operating in similar economic risk regions Good diversification by line of business and geography Growing exposure to unsecured consumer lending, representing incremental increase in risk appetite Risk associated with expanding investments in emerging markets, although somewhat compensated with higher margins Higher dependence on wholesale funding than domestic peers Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' negative outlook on The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) reflects the potential that we could lower the long-term issuer credit rating (ICR) one notch if we remove government support from the long-term ICR to reflect the greater likelihood that senior unsecured debt may incur losses. We
