Defence bank aims to open in 2027 after Montréal agreement in April
Nine countries have committed to a new Canada-based defence bank that aims to raise up to US$134bn) in low-cost financing, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
Carney named Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine as backers of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), which will be headquartered in Canada, according to Reuters.
The roster included no G7 heavyweight other than Canada, a gap analysts said could limit the institution's financial firepower.
"In principle they can get this airborne with these commitments," Linus Terhorst, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters.
It is a beginning, he said, though the backers may have hoped for bigger European players.
The bank is targeting a triple-A credit rating so it can offer low-interest loans for defence projects, Reuters reported, with a focus on nations and companies that currently struggle to access cheaper finance.
It also plans to extend loan guarantees to private banks to support the scaling of defence industries.
Major global and Canadian lenders have already joined the project.
JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and ING have signed on alongside RBC, BMO, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank, per Reuters.
The nine participating nations said in a joint statement the bank "is designed to expand access to capital, reduce financing costs, and support expansion of industrial capacity across member countries."
Even so, Canada signalled the founding roster is not final.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Ottawa wants more countries on board before it formally announces a slate of founding nations.
"We want more and more countries to come on board before we put something out," Anand told Reuters in an interview on the summit sidelines.
She said Luxembourg, the only other public backer at that point, had put in significant effort, and described the initiative as retaining a "critical mass" of support.
The DSRB has struggled to win over larger European nations.
Britain and Germany had previously distanced themselves from the plan, Reuters reported, though UK finance minister Rachel Reeves told parliament last month that Britain was now "working closely" with Canada.
Britain is also promoting a separate multilateral defence funding programme, which secured Poland's backing on Monday and already counts the Netherlands and Finland as supporters.
A group of former NATO security advisers, ex-military personnel and bankers first proposed the DSRB in 2024.
Canada reached a milestone in April, when partners meeting in Montréal agreed the founding Articles of Agreement and selected Canada to host the headquarters, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
Ottawa has now invited partner countries to complete their domestic ratification processes, with the aim of making the bank operational in 2027.
Canada framed the effort as a response to rising defence demand, citing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The bank will help Canada and its allies meet "the challenges of a more dangerous and divided world together," Carney said.
It will unlock investment and strengthen the defence industrial base, he added.
