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Update: as of February 16, 2026 Scotia has fallen to pressure and fully divested from Elbit

Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest military technology company.
Scotiabank is (after Vanguard) Elbit’s largest foreign shareholder.

The Basics

Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia) is a Canadian bank headquartered in Toronto. It is Canada’s third largest bank and is one of the “Big Five”.

Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest military tech company. They provide ~85% of the IDF’s land-based equipment and ~85% of its drones.

These are fundamental to the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Who is responsible?

Scotiabank owns a company called “1832 Asset Management”. That company employs a man named David Fingold. He is responsible for hundreds of millions of investments in Elbit Systems.

Scotiabank uses this separation as an excuse to dodge responsibility:

“[we are] not the biggest shareholder of Elbit, nor [are we] the biggest foreign shareholder of Elbit. Shares in Elbit are held by mutual funds managed by our asset management arm, which in turn are held by unitholders of those fund.”

“Scotiabank cannot interfere in the independent investment decisions of its portfolio managers who are fiduciaries that are duty-bound to make decisions in good faith in the best interest of the funds they manage.”

Trimming their stake

Over 2024, Scotiabank has reduced their stake in Elbit on two occasions: March and August — but not out of the goodness of their heart.

Nov 28, 2023: 1832 owns ~5.04% of Elbit (~$600 million CAD)
Mar 11, 2024: 1832 trims their stake; now owns 4.3% of Elbit (~$? million CAD)
Aug 14, 2024: 1832 again trims their stake; now owns 1.44% (~$172 million CAD)
Jun 10, 2025: 1832 owns 1.59% (~$400 million CAD)

There is no indication that this was for ethical reasons. A “reduction” is clearly financially motivated; otherwise Scotia’s stake would have been reduced to zero. The reduction in August occurred the same day as an earnings call, clearly indicating that this was financially motivated.