Canada's Scotiabank, CIBC supports global defence bank initiative

LONDON/OTTAWA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO and CIBC CM.TO said on Monday they would support the establishment of a global defence bank known as the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), days after the Canadian government gave the proposal its backing.

DSRB is one of several competing proposals for a new multilateral defence bank to help rearm European and NATO member countries, although it has garnered limited support in Europe.

Scotiabank and CIBC join several other major banks, including JPMorgan JPM.N, Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO and Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE, in partnering with the initiative.

RBC, Scotiabank and CIBC are three of Canada's big six banks, that control a majority of the country's banking system, to take part in the project.

Backers of the DSRB want it to become a global state-backed institution with a triple-A credit rating capable of raising $135 billion to fund defence projects.

Canada Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced Canada's interest in backing the plan in a post on X on Friday after hosting talks with more than 10 nations.

"Canada believes the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank would bring significant value if established and we are playing a leading role in discussions and negotiations," John Fragos, a spokesman for Champagne, told Reuters.

Germany and Britain have previously said they will not back the bank. Britain's defence minister said in parliament last month that the government was interested in exploring multinational finance proposals.

Germany has said that European defence financing should be achieved through existing funding mechanisms, such as the European Union's Security Action for Europe scheme, or SAFE.

The European Stability Mechanism, a crisis fund for the region with more than 430 billion pounds of firepower, has told Reuters it could lend money to countries for defence, although this proposal could face hurdles.