Scotiabank (TSX: BNS) is moving to revive a metals trading desk as the bank positions for a commodity cycle where spreads, hedging flows, and investor interest have intensified.
People familiar with the matter said Bank of Nova Scotia has tapped recruiters to hire commodities traders, sales specialists, and strategists to staff a revived unit.
The approach is staged, with the bank starting by rebuilding human capital and distribution coverage, then aligning trading and risk functions to client flows in physical and financial metals.
Scotiabank did not respond to a request for comment, according to the same reporting.
The timing follows sharp rallies in gold, copper, and silver that have pulled more capital and activity into global metals markets. In the same market window, tariff-driven dislocations have been cited as a source of arbitrage in copper, with US pricing diverging enough from offshore benchmarks to reshape flows and trading strategies.
In precious metals, price-spread dynamics have reportedly drawn “billions of dollars” of bullion into the US, tightening liquidity elsewhere and amplifying the value of balance-sheet intermediation like financing and hedging.
Why Scotiabank?
Scotiabank previously shut down the desk in 2020 during the pandemic, a move that ended a long-running precious-metals business that sources describe as dating back to the 17th century. Reporting around the closure also tied the wind-down to US regulatory investigations into metals trading practices.
A desk that can lend and hedge, not just trade, expands the revenue surface area from bid-ask and spreads to structured risk management, inventory-style financing, and client facilitation. For a universal bank, that matters because metals activity is often strongest when volatility and cross-venue dislocations rise, which increases client demand for execution, hedges, and balance-sheet capacity.
Re-entering the space therefore implies a dual build: revenue infrastructure through staffing and client coverage, and controls infrastructure to operate under a tighter scrutiny backdrop than the pre-2020 era.
Information for this story was found via Bloomberg and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
