Scotiabank CEO interested in Mexico's Banorte

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia's (BNS.TO) chief executive expressed interest on Wednesday in Banorte (GFNORTEO.MX), praising its brand, but hastened to add that he did not believe the Mexican bank was up for sale.

Rick Waugh also said at the Reuters Global Finance Summit in New York that Scotiabank, Canada's third largest bank, was looking at other opportunities to grow in Latin America's second biggest economy.

Asked if Scotiabank was interested in buying Banorte, Mexico's fifth largest bank, Waugh said: "Banorte is a very good bank and I think everybody is interested in Banorte, but as far as I am aware of Banorte is not for sale."

"We are interested in looking at all opportunities in Mexico ... We are expanding branches and we want to accelerate that with the appropriate opportunities," he said.

Banorte, the last major Mexican financial institution owned by local investors, is often referred to as a likely takeover target of international groups looking to move or expand into Mexico.

In July, Spain's Santander (SAN.MC)(STD.N), which owns Mexico's third largest bank, said it had been interested in making an offer for Banorte for some time.

Banorte shares fell 11.19 percent on Wednesday and have lost half of their value this year. The bank has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion.

Waugh said he saw some overheating in Mexico's consumer credit portfolios, where losses had been increasing in the last quarters, but mainly due to the current global crisis and not to local factors.

He added there were no signs of another "tequila crisis" like the one in 1994-95 when dozens of banks collapsed following a deep devaluation of the local currency and a weak credit portfolio.

(Reporting by Juan Lagorio, Editing by Phil Berlowitz)