TORONTO, Sept. 29 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today announced that it is the first bank in Canada to launch a full-service online precious metals delivery channel through its ScotiaMocatta division - a global leader in precious metals trading, financing, and physical products. Canadians may now browse, purchase and arrange delivery of gold and silver products online at www.scotiamocatta.com/eStore.

"ScotiaMocatta's online precious metals eStore provides Canadians with an opportunity to explore the world of precious metals, while also completing purchases in the comfort and convenience of their homes," said Rick Waugh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Scotiabank. "Our new eStore reinforces ScotiaMocatta's global industry leadership through innovations that respond to the changing needs and increasing sophistication of our customer base. This opportunity broadens the range of choices in our wealth management offering to customers."

The ScotiaMocatta eStore is currently accepting orders from within Canada only, and home delivery of purchases is available to most points across the country. Customers can purchase up to $6,000 worth of gold and silver per day and pay through the Interac network using Visa, MasterCard, or debit cards. Precious metals products will continue to be available for purchase through any Scotiabank branch in Canada. Eventually ScotiaMocatta will expand this service to include the 50 countries in which Scotiabank operates.

"The ScotiaMocatta eStore, an innovative and secure platform, will supplement our existing branch network in offering precious metals products to Canadians", said Barry Wainstein, Vice-Chairman and Deputy Head, Global Capital Markets, and Global Head, Foreign Exchange and Precious Metals. "This new delivery channel demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing exceptional customer service and market-leading products in Canada and around the world."

All ScotiaMocatta eStore purchases from September 29, 2009 to February 26, 2010 include a chance to win a one-ounce gold bar. Full contest details are available at www.scotiamocatta.com/eStore.

ScotiaMocatta, the precious metals division of the Scotiabank Group, is a global leader in precious metals trading and finance, with roots dating back to 1671. It is the Chairman of the London Silver Fixing, Member and past Chair of the benchmark London Gold Fixing, and a leading market-maker with operations worldwide. ScotiaMocatta serves a diverse clientele of producers and consumers of bullion across a variety of industries. For more information, please visit www.scotiamocatta.com

Scotia Capital is the wholesale banking arm of the Scotiabank Group, offering a wide variety of products to corporate, government and institutional clients. It provides full-service coverage across the NAFTA region, and also serves selected niche markets globally through two divisions, Global Capital Markets and Global Corporate and Investment Banking. Scotia Capital has 28 offices and more than 300 relationship managers organized around industry specialties. For more information, please visit www.scotiacapital.com

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With close to 69,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approximately 12.8 million customers in some 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a diverse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With more than $485 billion in assets (as at July 31, 2009), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

ScotiaMocatta Backgrounder

    Scotiabank's Gold Department

With more than a century of expertise in the precious metals field, Scotiabank was, in 1893, the first bank in Canada to import gold from London, England, to Chicago, in the U.S., to relieve the stringency caused by the financial panic of that year. The Bank also offered gold loans to mining companies in Canada and around the world, as well as customer services to central banks.

After the Second World War, interest in gold was revived and it began to regain its traditional attraction as a store of value. In 1958, Scotiabank introduced a unique gold certificate, designed to purchase and as a transferable receipt for gold held for safekeeping in the Bank's vaults. The Bank also became the first Canadian bank to provide daily quotations for gold. Scotiabank quickly became Canada's largest gold trader, in both certificates and bullion, and with its acquisition of the Mocatta Group on 1 December 1997, Scotiabank also came to be known as "Canada's Gold Bank".

The Mocatta Group

ScotiaMocatta has it beginnings over 300 years ago with Moses Mocatta opening an account with one of London's most famous goldsmith bankers, Alderman Edward Backwell, in 1671. Originally from Portugal, the Mocatta family made its way to London to deal in diamonds, and to a lesser degree, gold and silver. Upon his death in 1693, Abraham Mocatta, Moses' son, began to actively run the business. In 1710, Abraham Mocatta acquired a licensed broker's medal on the Royal Exchange and he quickly became the most prominent broker in silver. With the flood of gold being discovered and entering London during the 1720s, the Bank of England appointed Mocatta as its primary broker for buying and selling foreign gold, until his retirement in 1750. He was succeeded first by his son-in-law, Moses de Mattos, and then by his grandson, Abraham de Mattos Mocatta, in 1754.

Throughout the eighteenth century, several individuals became partners in the Mocatta business including: silver-and-diamond dealer Alexander Isaks Keyser, in 1760; Asher Goldsmid, who was married to Mocatta's daughter, in 1779; Abraham de Mattos Mocatta's sons Moses and Jacob, in January 1800; as well as Asher Goldsmid's sons Issac Lyon and Aaron Asher who became dominant senior partners in 1822. During that period, the business also changed its name to reflect the new partnership that was formed between Mocatta and Goldsmid. Following the death of Keyser in 1779, the Mocatta business was newly named Mocatta and Goldsmid.

By 1840, the Bank of England concluded its exclusive relationship with the firm, opening themselves up to several brokers. In 1864, with the retirement of F.D. Goldsmid and Abraham Mocatta, the 85-year alliance between the two families was broken. At this time, an individual who was not a Mocatta or Goldsmid, Sir Hector Hay assumed leadership of the firm which maintained its original name.

In 1900, descendents of Mocatta and Goldsmid rejoined the partnership. By 1957, the business was acquired by the merchant bank, Hambros Bank and was renamed Mocatta and Goldsmid Limited, with Jock and Edgar Mocatta serving as managing directors. In 1969, Mocatta Metal Corporation was created in New York and through Hambros Bank, Mocatta and Goldsmid took a 50 per cent share. The company intended to trade silver, but dealt in all natural metals.

In May 1973, due to the need for greater financial backing to accommodate the development in bullion trade around the world, the business was sold to the Standard Chartered Bank which took over Mocatta and Goldsmid, London, as well as 30 per cent interest in Mocatta Metal Corporation, New York. Also in 1973, The Commercial Metal Company Ltd. was purchased from Hambros and was renamed Mocatta Commercial (MCL). By 1975, Mocatta Hong Kong Ltd. was opened and in the fall of 1982, Mocatta Financiere S.A. in Geneva, Switzerland was opened.

The Formation of ScotiaMocatta

On October 1, 1997, Scotiabank Group, "Canada's Gold Bank", announced that an agreement was signed to acquire Mocatta Bullion and Base Metals from the Standard Chartered Bank. At the time of the acquisition, Mocatta had 180 employees, 10 offices around the world, a base of approximately 3,000 clients and also owned Iron Mountain, a gold and silver depository in New York State. On December 1, 1997, the acquisition was finalized and the Mocatta operations were absorbed into Scotia Capital Markets to form ScotiaMocatta. Today, ScotiaMocatta helps make Scotiabank Group one of the world's leading metal trading and bullion banks.

Through the centuries, ScotiaMocatta has been at the forefront of world markets, with innovative new products and solutions that have become industry standards. ScotiaMocatta's evolution of expertise and innovation makes us one of the world's top precious metals dealers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1671                                                 Mocatta Established
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1774                                Handled 3/4 of world gold production
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1897                    Made Permanent Chair of the London Silver Fixing
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1997                 Scotiabank acquired Mocatta and forms ScotiaMocatta
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2004              First non-British bank to chair the London Gold Fixing
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2007        ScotiaMocatta named one of Canada's 71 Global Leaders by The
                                Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Recent               Membership received into the Shanghai Gold Exchange
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Canada, ScotiaMocatta sells gold, silver, platinum and palladium bars, coins and certificates through the Scotiabank branch network. The ScotiaMocatta eStore is an alternative, online delivery channel for a selection of gold and silver products.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/