Deborah M. Alexander

Biography

As Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Scotiabank, Deborah Alexander has responsibility for managing and overseeing globally the Bank’s legal affairs. Deborah also manages and oversees the Corporate Governance Office and the Corporate Secretary’s Department. Deborah is the Chairman of the Reputational Risk Committee and the Disclosure Committee of the Bank. She is a member of the CEO’s Operating Committee and the Human Capital Committee of the Bank. She attends all the meetings and committee meetings of the Board of Directors of the Bank. Deborah acts as a mentor for several women in the Bank and participates on panel discussions in Canada and the United States relating to encouraging women in their career development. 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 was entered in the Hall of Fame for Canada’s Most Powerful Women. Deborah served on the board of Bloorview Kids Foundation, and was a member of the Queen’s University Council and a trustee on the Board of Trustees of Queen’s University. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Education Exchange between Canada and the United States of America (the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program) and was on the executive fundraising campaign for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). 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 Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Research Interest

Financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions