Canadian Scotiabank looks to sell gold trading unit on scandal: FT

(Reuters) - Canadian Bank of Nova Scotia (Toronto:BNS.TO - News) has put its gold business up for sale in the aftermath of a massive money laundering scandal centered on a U.S. refinery that involved smuggled gold from South America, the Financial Times reported.

FT said the bank’s ScotiaMocatta business is one of London’s main gold trading banks and is being sold by JPMorgan, according to people familiar with the process. (http://on.ft.com/2yzk6dt)

The FT report said Chinese buyers are rumored to be the key targets of the Scotiabank sale, according to people in the market.

Reuters reached out to the bank for a comment but it was not immediately available.

Scotiabank, which has the biggest foreign presence of any Canadian bank, is focusing its international strategy on the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc comprising Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia. [nL8N1LF2RR]

(Reporting by Taenaz Shakir)