Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) is restructuring its metals business and several senior staff in London and New York are leaving after the bank was unable to sell the ScotiaMocatta unit, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters
Scotiabank, which declined to comment on Wednesday, began a strategic review of ScotiaMocatta in 2016 after a string of lawsuits related to the manipulation of gold and silver price benchmarks and due to dissatisfaction over its performance, sources previously told Reuters.
Goldman Sachs and Citibank had both declined to buy ScotiaMocatta, and Scotiabank said in February it would instead slim down one of London’s main gold trading banks, whose origins date back to the 17th century.
The bulk of ScotiaMocatta’s business is in precious metals, where market sources say it had annual revenues of $100-$180 million, and it is one of five banks that clear bullion in London’s $5 trillion a year gold market, the world’s biggest.
ScotiaMocatta says it employs more than 160 people in 10 offices around the world.
(Reuters)
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