Executive Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary

As Executive Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary, Deborah Alexander has responsibility for managing the Bank's legal affairs worldwide, overseeing compliance for the Bank, and acting as Corporate Secretary.

Deborah joined Scotiabank in June 2002. Prior to this, she was a senior partner in the Business Law Department at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Her practice focused on securities financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions in the Canadian, U.S. and international capital markets, and transactions relating to Canadian financial institutions.

Deborah has been a member of the Securities Advisory Committee to the Ontario Securities Commission, and has lectured in various areas of securities law, including lectures in the United States and Canada. She was named for three consecutive years to the Top 100 List of Canada's Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network and the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business, and entered the Hall of Fame for Canada’s Most Powerful Women in 2007.

Deborah joined the board of Bloorview Kids Foundation in 2006, and is a member of the Queen’s University Council. She served on the Board of Governors for Crescent School and is a past Director of the National Ballet of Canada. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Education Exchange between Canada and the United States of America (the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program).

Deborah graduated from Queen's University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. She received her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto in 1975, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada.