Oct 18 Reuters Bank of Nova Scotia on Wednesday announced plans to cut about 2,700 jobs globally 3 of its workforce and take a C590 million 430.94 million charge in the fourth quarter, making it the latest Canadian bank to take costcutting steps in a challenging environment.

The layoffs appear to be the biggest among Canadian banks. Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal similarly have cut hundreds of jobs in response to rising costs in a high interest rate environment.

Scotiabank said the layoffs will result in a restructuring charge and severance provisions of about C247 million. It also expects costs of C63 million related to the consolidation and exit of certain real estate premises and service contracts, and impairment charges of C280 million related to its investment in China39;s Bank of Xi39;an.

The layoffs are also a result of changes in customers39; daytoday banking preferences and as bank looks to digitize and automate some processes, it said.

CEO Scott Thomson, who took charge in February, made a number of leadership changes in August ahead of a strategic overhaul that the bank is expected to launch at its investor day in December.

Scotiabank, which had about 91,000 fulltime equivalent employees at the end of July 31, said its fourthquarter results will see an impact of about 49 Canadian cents per share and a 10 basis points hit to its CET1 ratio.

It expects to see savings throughout fiscal 2024 and full runrate benefits in fiscal 2025.

Analysts…