"Real Estate Bits - 2"

TORONTO, March 19 - CNW - Scotiabank has been recognized as the Best Developed Market Bank in Canada by Global Finance. This is the third time Scotiabank Group has been honoured by the magazine in 2009. "In these times stability as a bank is paramount to clients and Scotiabank prides itself on its prudent risk management culture," said Chris Hodgson, Group Head, Canadian Banking, Scotiabank. "We are very pleased to receive this award because it underscores the Bank's efforts to offer our clients, quality products and services and the peace of mind that comes from being supported by one of the world's most stable financial institutions."

Scotiabank's Canadian Banking division serves more than seven million customers and provides a wide range of banking solutions for individuals and small businesses, borrowing options, online investing and insurance products. Scotiabank Group serves 12.8 million customers globally and includes Scotia Capital.

"At Scotiabank we work hard to be the bank of choice for Canadians by providing them all the financial products and services they need here in Canada and by having a presence in over 50 countries, allowing them to deal with us when they are out of the country," added Mr. Hodgson.

"Canada's banking sector has been rock-solid compared to other countries'," said Joseph D. Giarraputo, Publisher & President, Global Finance. "Scotiabank is the best choice among these good performers. It is the top of the line for its customers." The winners of this year's awards are those banks that attended carefully to their customers' needs in difficult markets and accomplished better results while laying the foundations for future success.

All selections were made by the editors of Global Finance, after extensive consultations with bankers, corporate financial executives and analysts throughout the world. In selecting these top banks, Global Finance considered factors that range from the quantitative objective to the informed subjective. Banks were invited to submit entries supporting their selection. Amid nominally objective criteria were growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and innovation in products. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity analysts, credit rating analysts, banking consultants and others involved in the industry. The mix of these factors yields leading banks that may not be the largest, the oldest or the most diversified in a given country, but rather the best - the banks with which corporations around the world would most likely want to do business.

This year Global Finance also named Scotiabank the Best Trade Finance Bank in Canada for the third time in four years and Scotia Capital, Scotiabank's wholesale banking division, as Best Foreign Exchange Bank in Canada for the fifth year in a row. Global Transaction Banking partners with Domestic Banking, Scotia Capital and International Banking divisions to deliver customer-centric trade services, correspondent banking, cash management and payments, commercial cards, foreign exchange and investment solutions.

Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 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 $509 billion in assets (as at January 31, 2009), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS).