The Financial Post reports in its Friday, Oct. 18, edition that National Bank of Canada is leaning into its domestic focus, with chief executive officer Laurent Ferreira saying that "Canada's our playground." A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that tThe Montreal-based bank sees plenty of room to grow within the country and hopes to complete its planned acquisition of Edmonton-based Canadian Western Bank early next year, Ferreira said Wednesday at the Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference in New York. That deal will increase National Bank's physical footprint in Western Canada by six times, he said, adding that there is also room for the firm to do more lending outside of its home province of Quebec. Canada's our market. When we get outside of Canada, we make sure that it is accretive to returns." He points to National Bank's U.S. structured-finance business as an example. National Bank, the smallest of Canada's six largest banks, has seen some of its peers face challenges with international investments. Toronto-Dominion Bank last week pleaded guilty to a raft of money-laundering charges in the U.S. and will pay almost $3.1-billion (U.S.) in fines.