Going concern

Keith Martell, CA
Chairman & CEO
First Nations Bank of Canada

Company profile: The First Nations Bank of Canada is a chartered bank with a full range of personal and business banking services, focusing primarily on Aboriginal customers. The bank was founded in 1996 as a strategic alliance between the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation Inc., Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Over the years TD Bank has scaled back its share-holder interest and today, Aboriginal shareholders from Yukon, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and Nunavut own more than 80%. The bank is also an approved lender with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Hot factor: With 2009 assets of $267 million and a specific loan loss rate of virtually 0%, First Nations Bank has invoked global interest from First Nations in Australia and the US. Despite an objective to pull out financial interest entirely by 2007, TD Bank has chosen to maintain a 19% share.

Cool projects: In late April, the bank opened a new branch in Iqaluit, Nunavut, which is its seventh branch overall and its first move into Inuit territory. First Nations Bank is also scoping out a location for an eighth branch in NWT to open within a year and a half.

In his own words: “Our shareholders value our long-term commitment and their participation in our success. From the development of our first business plan to the management of our ongoing growth, we have focused on realistic plans based on good information, hard work and positive relationships.For the first 300 years of Canada’s existence, Aboriginal people were the economy and most Canadians have forgotten that. Our passion is in reawakening the entrepreneurial resilience and capacity of Aboriginal people to participate in their own economy.”

Rosalind Stefanac