April 01, 2009

Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer Gordon Nixon says the worst of the financial crisis may be over.“The financial services crisis has stabilized,” Nixon said in an interview yesterday in New York. “The worst is over.” Still, Canada’s biggest lender is in no rush to buy U.S. banks. The Toronto-based bank hasn’t made a U.S. acquisition since its $1.64 billion takeover of Alabama National BanCorporation in February 2008, even as the financial crisis has driven down bank stocks.Prime Minister Stephen Harper is urging the Canadian lenders to take advantage of their strengths to expand abroad, according to an interview published yesterday in the Financial Times.

“There’s no question that if you believe that companies in your country should be continuing to expand, to grow internationally, it is an opportunity today that wasn’t there previously,” Nixon said. “At the same time, in today’s environment, you don’t want to do things that compromise your financial strength.”Nixon said there is still too much “uncertainty” in the U.S. market to make acquisitions to add to its consumer bank based in Raleigh, North Carolina and its New York- based investment bank.