Scotiabank adds JPMorgan exec in warehouse lending expansion

Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia is set to grow its presence in U.S. mortgage warehouse lending, as it brings on a veteran JPMorgan Chase executive.

Thanh Roettele, who first joined JPMorgan almost three decades ago and most recently held the role of managing director, is heading to Scotiabank to lead warehouse funding operations serving nonbank mortgage businesses. Members of his JPMorgan team will also join him in the transition. The news was first reported in Inside Mortgage Finance.

The addition of Roettele is one of the latest moves from Scotiabank as it attempts to further expand in the United States. Earlier this week, the Toronto-based bank announced it would invest $2.8 billion in Keybank, becoming its largest shareholder with an almost 15% stake. In May, Scotiabank also named former Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan executive Travis Machen as its CEO and group head of global lending and markets.

Roettele's move to Scotiabank comes as the warehouse lending segment sees ongoing market shifts amid the mortgage slowdown and financial industry turbulence of the past two years. Earlier this year, New York Community Bank divested its $5 billion warehouse loan portfolio as it faced growing questions over its business strategy, selling the assets to JPMorgan Chase.

Prior to the sale, the latter had the country's largest warehouse lending business, while NYCB held the second-place spot.

Meanwhile, ongoing controversy over potential changes in capital risk rules also has raised some concerns about the effect on warehouse lending.

With Roettele's departure, Chris Bono was tapped to lead the mortgage finance sector for global corporate banking at JPMorgan, a company spokesperson said. Bono first joined the bank over two decades ago.

Long established in Central America, Scotiabank, which hold $1.4 trillion in assets, has made no secret of its interests in expanding its network within its neighbor to the south. In its second-quarter earnings call, Scotiabank reported 55% annual growth in earnings from its U.S. business of $271 million. The amount contributed to total net income of $2.1 billion company wide.