McLeod, Young, Weir & Co. Limited, and after 1977, McLeod Young Weir Limited, was a Canadian investment brokerage that operated from 1921 to 1988. The firm grew to become one of the country's largest brokerage houses and provided services including underwriting, stock and bond trading and distributing, leasing, private placements, and mortgage financing. McLeod Young Weir had international offices in England, France, and the United States and owned seats on the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Alberta, Winnipeg, and Midwest stock exchanges.
In 1987, the Ontario government amended its regulations to allow banks to own brokerages outright. Consequently, in 1988, the firm was acquired by the Bank of Nova Scotia for $419 million and renamed ScotiaMcLeod. In 1999, the firm was renamed Scotia Capital Inc., while the name ScotiaMcLeod was given to its retail brokerage division.
History
McLeod, Young, Weir & Co. was founded in January 1921 by Donald Ivan McLeod (1886–1967), William Ewart Young (1886–1953), Lt-Col James Gordon Weir (1888–1970), and John Henry Ratcliffe (1894–1968).[1] The four men were former employees of A. E. Ames & Company, the investment brokerage founded by Alfred Ernest Ames in 1889.
McLeod was from Owen Sound and graduated bachelor of arts from Queen's University in 1908. He worked as a journalist from 1908 to 1911, and that year went into the investment business with Brent, Noxon & Co. in Toronto. After serving in the war, he joined A. E. Ames in 1918.[2]