National Bank of Canada and Canadian Western Bank became a single legal entity on 1 March 2025, with the formal amalgamation taking effect just weeks after the acquisition close on 3 February 2025. The combined institution assumes all rights and obligations of both predecessor banks, creating a larger bank that National Bank said would deliver a stronger banking choice for all Canadians and Canadian businesses. The amalgamation combines the two banks legally under a single charter, while integration of CWB's clients and employees continues in the following months.
The amalgamation completes a process that National Bank launched when it announced its intention to acquire CWB, a Western Canada-focused lender offering commercial banking, equipment financing, and personal banking.
ALL CWB OBLIGATIONS ASSUMED BY COMBINED ENTITY
A direct consequence of the legal amalgamation is that the newly combined entity assumes all outstanding obligations of Canadian Western Bank, including its NVCC Subordinated Debentures. NVCC, or Non-Viability Contingent Capital, instruments are required under Canadian bank capital rules for regulatory capital instruments, other than common shares, issued by deposit-taking institutions and must include contractual provisions allowing the regulator to convert or write off the instruments if the issuer approaches non-viability.
The federal Minister of Finance had approved the acquisition in December 2024. CWB's other capital instruments were dealt with before the amalgamation: on 20 February 2025 its NVCC preferred shares were exchanged for substantially equivalent National Bank preferred shares and its Limited Recourse Capital Notes were redeemed.
COMBINED INSTITUTION
The combined institution will operate under the National Bank of Canada brand and will be regulated by OSFI as a domestic systemically important bank. The amalgamation took effect on 1 March 2025, as National Bank had announced when it closed the acquisition on 3 February.