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This report is a scorecard I designed in order to rank the performance of the current Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau. I do regular rankings because, otherwise, I cannot measure the performance in a meaningful way. The scoring is based on a variety of metrics as detailed on the ‘score-table’ on page 3. Examples of the criteria and weighting include:
Observations and overview of 2018 NB flood support from government and insurance companies.
Flood aftermath is linked to post traumatic stress. Here are some findings from a study conducted by Queensland University following a flood:
"The findings showed that aftermath stress contributed to poor mental health outcomes over and above the flood itself, prior mental health issues and demographic factors," Ms Dixon said.
"Aftermath stress was the strongest predictor of post-traumatic stress symptoms with 75 per cent of people saying the most difficult aspect was the aftermath and dealing with insurance companies," she said.
With this in mind, I felt it was important to understand how New Brunswick flood victims were treated.
Argentina is in the news daily because the situation is dire, and may be an indication of further contagion. The most dramatic story that speaks of the a leading cause of its troubles was the recent arrest of the public works secretary, Jose Lopez. June 15th he was caught hiding millions in cash in a monastery. No this is not a plot for a comedy.
As states across the US legalize marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes, it has fueled a growing industry of marijuana related businesses (MRBs).
With Walmart Pay about to userp Apple Pay, I thought I would share my 2014 book on mobile payments and loyalty. The guilde was written for Merchants that want to understand loyalty, credit, mobile payments and Apple Pay, but anyone involved with credit and loyalty might find it useful.
The book is a prelude to Walmart leaving MCX, and chronicles the evolution that led to Walmart Pay. There is an extensive case study of Walmart that looks into its efforts to become an ILC and to avoid paying credit card transaction fees ('merchant discount').
It offers readers a step-by-step methodology for evaluating and transforming credit and loyalty programs. The strategies are based on proven examples and industry facts. The Nectar, Target, Canadian Tire and Walmart case studies are examples of the practical approach I have taken, written with the intent that merchants can use them as blueprints for their own initiatives.
TD’s share price recently collapsed by $7 bn in one day due to CBC’s allegations of aggressive selling tactics. A huge fall from a bank that was trading at a premium as recently as January. This was even before the most recent allegation of TD attempting to avoid paying taxes on advertising.
This report chronicles the events leading up to the collapse, shows TD's performance, analyses other related issues.
Footnote 151 implies an important regulatory change related to derivative contracts. It means that US Banks will not be required to hold as much capital against commodities. If you want to understand the implications of this regulatory change in more detail, see the enclosed related article detailing the changes. For contextual purposes, I have also included two Rolling Stones Magazines reports from 2010 and 2014 that chronicle the role large US banks have played in manipulating commodities. You might question the credibility of these sources, but rest assured, these reports are based on United States Senate hearings which outline the issues in a 396 page report related to the implied risks.
Consumer debt spending appears to have insulated Canada from the worst of the credit crisis, but now the alarming magnitude of consumer debt ($1.92-trillion) could exacerbate a day of reckoning.
This report assesses the issues at hand and recommends the solution to get Canada's economy on track.
Reasons financial service companies should consider gamification
According to Bloomberg, National Bank of Canada will take a C$64 million ($48 million) restructuring charge in the fourth quarter and said its investment in Maple Financial Group Inc., which is being probed by German regulators, may be at risk of a “substantial loss.”
Will Canadian banks charge companies for deposits?
In light of today’s possible rate cut, this report discusses how a bank rate cut and capital ratio pressure could precipitate negative corporate deposit interest rates in Canada.
Canadian Tire's (CTC) - Canadian Tire Financial Services (CTFS) Scotia deal overview and risk assess
Whether he knew it or not, Tom Reid, a senior vice-president at Sun Life, made a case for the behavior modification concept ‘Nudging’ when he recently proposed auto-enrolling Canadians in his company’s pension plans. Sun life cover 1.2 million Canadians, about 60% of the eligible employees.
This report looks at Canadian challenger banks (apart from merchant led banks) and explains why they have not threatened larger institutions. It also looks at ways in which these upstarts have achieved success.
Canadian banks have made money throughout the credit crisis, but this trend may be about to reverse. The rational supporting this prediction is that revenue has grown despite a declining net interest margin (NIM). It has grown in spite of this fact because Canadian debt (loan lease volume) has risen significantly, as shown in chart 2.
This report looks at the issues facing Canadian banks in the event of a Bank Rate rise.
Yesterday, the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) opened criminal proceedings related to the FIFA scandal. This report outlines some of the events related to the criminal investigation, with a particular focus on banking.
March 18, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty resigned from cabinet after having endured a difficult year due to health issues. This report looks at his legacy and attempts to grade his government’s performance to date.
Merchant led financial services are growing in importance once again. This is exemplified in the ongoing UK rivalry between ASDA, Sainsbury and Tesco. Together these merchant/financial service companies provide the backstop for three different approaches for merchants looking to extend their financial services.
Canadian and London real estate, like Macau, may also be a convenient means for China’s elite to move money offshore; with the deleterious effect of driving up home values. Louise Shelley`s research concurs. In a published paper written for the National Defense University, Shelley argues that money laundering in real estate (MLRE) increases prices.
Genworth had its Q4 2014 earnings call. Genworth own about 30% of the mortgage default insurance in Canada. Not surprisingly, the earnings call became focussed on Alberta; and for good reason, with 20% of its outstanding insured mortgage balance in Alberta, sensitivity to the oil shock and how Genworth plan to manage related risks were discussed in detail.
Based on historical financial data (see detailed charts pages 5-8), the oil based recession in Alberta, and comparison against two of its peers, this document outlines my observation with respect to CWB’s future performances.
Recently the CBC and The Globe and Mail both reported on what has been referred to as a consumer “bank fee outcry”. CBC compares banks to cable and phone companies, standing accused of trying to gouge customers with service fees. The backlash appears to have originated in conjunction with the NDP and the Consumers Council of Canada which argues that there is anxiety ‘among consumers about banking fees’.
Cheap oil has pushed the Bank of Canada's governor, Stephen Poloz onto a slippery slope. For some background on this, take October 22nd, when Poloz bid farewell to forward guidance, resulting in yesterday's surprise rate cut. A cut that has enraged TD and other banks, which see this as eroding profits.
This report explores Canada's strategies to compete globally. The report begins with an analyses of the housing market, because housing is the canary in the coal mine; explores what happens in the event of collapse; and analyses the underlying problem causing Canada to be uncompetitive.
Merchants that want to understand loyalty, credit and mobile payments should read this book. It offers readers a step-by-step methodology for evaluating and transforming credit and loyalty programs. The strategies are based on proven examples and facts. The Nectar, Target, Canadian Tire and Walmart case studies are examples of the practical approach I have taken, written with the intent that merchants can use them as blueprints for their own initiatives.
Mobile Payments Blueprint: guide to credit and loyalty transformation for merchants
Merchants that want to understand loyalty, credit and mobile payments should read this book. It offers readers a step-by-step methodology for evaluating and transforming credit and loyalty programs. The strategies are based on proven examples and facts. The Nectar, Target, Canadian Tire and Walmart case studies are examples of the practical approach I have taken, written with the intent that merchants can use them as blueprints for their own initiatives.
Special report explaining why some merchants in the UK, U.S. and Canada are expanding their financial services. The paper discusses the structural and regulatory pressures facing merchants and explains the rational behind key decisions. This is an 8 page high level report
Insurance Business - Bethan Moorcraft (2020-12-07)
Enter, rate comparison websites. They’re all the rage in the UK and the USA, where consumers use comparison sites to shop for insurance much like Canadians do when comparing travel costs on sites like Expedia and Trivago. But Canadians are slowly starting to catch on to the insurance comparison trend. They’re searching for and finding platforms like LowestRates.ca, which is enabling consumers to compare insurance premium prices across a number of product lines, primarily in auto and home insurance.
Investors fled UK property funds at the tail-end of the week faster than at any point this year as concerns brew over a repeat of the crisis that engulfed the sector following the EU referendum.
Swiss lawmakers are preparing a campaign that would make targeting climate change one of the policy objectives of the Swiss National Bank, alongside the traditional monetary targets of ensuring price stability and fostering economic growth.
One of the law firms that secured a $2bn settlement in the US over allegations of foreign exchange price manipulation filed a collective action in the UK on Wednesday, alleging that six banks participated in “unlawful” forex cartels.
A flurry of Chinese banks are being forced to buy back shares to stabilise their stock prices following a series of bank bailouts and mounting pressure on the country’s financial system.
The data reveals that credit and debit cards still make up the largest portion of the total transaction volume in Canada, while cheque and paper transactions and electronic funds transfers (EFT) still dominate the overall transaction value. The report also revealed that Canada ranks second with the highest volume of credit cards per capita in the world after South Korea.
Insurance Business - Bethan Moorcraft (2019-12-12)
“The brokers are our key focus because they have about 60% of the marketplace, and more importantly, they have the ear of the consumer and the knowledge and expertise to advise the consumer. That’s vitally important to us as a specialty market so that we can understand what the consumer wants and how we can help them.”
Lawyers working on the case told the New York Times that the amount was part of an overall US$47 million settlement intended to close out the company’s obligations. Under the terms of the agreement, the alleged victims would drop their claims against Weinstein and other executives and board members would be shielded from future liability.
Insurance Business - Bethan Moorcraft (2019-12-12)
The CMAJ (Vol. 191, Issue 48) gives a detailed report of a Canadian teenager who “developed a unique pattern of severe respiratory illness” which was rather like “severe, acute bronchiolitis” after vaping daily for five months. The condition was described by the teen’s doctors as very similar to “popcorn lung” – a rare lung disease previously seen in workers in the early 2000s who were exposed to the chemical flavouring diacetyl as they packaged microwave popcorn.
Insurance Business - Bethan Moorcraft (2019-12-12)
With rates increasing more or less across commercial lines, many organizations are considering higher self-insured retention (SIR) or higher deductibles in order to manage their soaring premium costs.
Parliament will set up a special committee to review all aspects of Canada’s strained relationship with China amid a prolonged diplomatic and trade dispute with its second-largest trading partner.
Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg has handed his role as United Nations climate envoy to Mark Carney, thrusting the Canadian governor of the Bank of England to the forefront of the global effort to prepare companies and lenders for potentially catastrophic climate change.
Since last December, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has gradually increased its “domestic stability buffer,” or DSB, citing “elevated” risks to the banking sector from high household and corporate indebtedness, as well as imbalances in housing markets. The buffer is a capital requirement that OSFI imposes over and above other elements used to set minimum capital ratios.
Two years after Jacques Goulet took over the helm as president of Sun Life Financial Canada, the insurer is cutting health-care costs for customers through digital applications that steer users to lower-cost options, while also driving down market costs for some medical products.
A growing number of Nova Scotians are considering an off-grid home, driven by factors like electricity outages and storms, as well as a desire to be environmentally friendly.
But they’re still an important part of banking and, in Canada, the two largest lenders are beating their smaller rivals at drawing more and more revenue from physical locations. Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank earn $14 million (US$10.6 million) a year from each of their domestic branches, distancing themselves from smaller competitors in the process.
The US-based mortgage insurer first made known its plans to sell off its Canadian arm in July. The company considered the option after it found that Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) had yet to make any “substantive progress” over its review of Genworth’s sale to China Oceanwide Holdings Group.
According to Financial Times, Lloyd’s has raised £300 million (around CA$521.9 million) of senior debt to fund the plan, taking the marketplace’s total amount of debt in issue to £1.1 billion (around CA$1.91 billion).
“Bulking up distribution, being amongst the best in the world in data, and then being deep in the physical world and creating an edge that’s very difficult to disrupt are the ingredients where we’re saying, ‘Look, bring it on. We’ll pivot. We have optionality. But we have elements in our strategy that are difficult to replicate, even for a big platform,’” Brindamour said during Investor Day.
The U.S. Federal Reserve holds its last policy meeting of 2019 on Wednesday, having completed a year-long U-turn that saw it abandon a tightening cycle and lower borrowing costs three times in response to the global trade war.
Whomever takes power this week (or later if it’s a hung parliament) will have to balance all of their promises to the electorate with an ugly economic backdrop. The composite purchasing managers survey has fallen steadily from the high-50s in 2017 to below the 50 line; this weakness hasn’t shown up fully in gross domestic product but the sentiment is evident. The Bank of England's next move could be cutting rates before any promised fiscal splurge kicks in A Tory win still looks the most market-friendly outcome — even with the prospect of a hardish Brexit. A healthy Johnson majority would let him pass an EU withdrawal bill before Christmas and formally exit on Jan. 31. That should defuse the hard-line Brexiters in his party, perhaps letting him negotiate a more sensible EU trade deal. A return of investment and consumer confidence would soften the impact of the slowing global economy.
Strategic Group, one of Canada’s largest private real estate developers and managers, has placed its Alberta properties under creditor protection, citing cavernous office vacancy due to the severe downturn in the oil patch.â
To say the U.S. Federal Reserve has abruptly shifted its rate policy into neutral would be an understatement. It has put rates in park, shut off the engine and chucked the keys off the nearest bridge.
The decision by Chevron Corp. to try to sell its 50 per cent stake in the Kitimat LNG project on the B.C. coast throws a symbolic dash of "long-dated cold water" on growth in the Canadian natural gas industry, an analysis says.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) has appointed Jonathan Penkin as head of its Johannesburg office, the bank’s base for sub-Saharan Africa where the current chief executive is retiring at the end of the year.
The fraud at Halifax Bank of Scotland’s Reading branch led to six people being jailed in 2017 for a combined 47 years. The scam involved small business customers being targeted and referred to a consultancy in return for bribes which the judge at the trial said included designer watches, sex with prostitutes and foreign holidays.
Outlook neither positive at this stage, though it does feel like the risks outnumber the opportunities at this stage in the macroeconomic cycle,” Sedran said in a note to clients this week. “We think earnings resilience and momentum, with a little help from share buybacks, will help determine the winners in the coming year.”Scotia Capital analyst Sumit Malhotra lowered his per-share earnings estimates for 2020, and now expects a repeat of the last year, with 3% growth, followed by 6% in 2021. He views stock valuations, at 10.5 times next year’s estimated earnings, and 10 times his 2021 profit forecast, as “reasonable given the uncertain growth outlook.”“We think the sector needs to demonstrate an EPS catalyst in order to improve sentiment towards the stocks,” Malhotra said in a note Monday.The eight-company S&P/TSX Commercial Banks Index has returned 10% so far this year. The index fell 11% last year, after posting an 11% increase in 2017 and a 25% surge in 2016.
This year’s report provides more detail on each fee, such as the type and rate of adjustment, the service standard and the performance result. This information provides additional context on each fee, in the spirit of open and transparent fee management.
Volcker, who Zima said had been suffering from prostate cancer, was the first to bring celebrity status to the job of U.S. central banker, serving as chairman of the Fed from 1979 to 1987. As with the man who succeeded him, Alan Greenspan, Volcker could soothe or excite financial markets with just a vague murmur.
The abundance of competition is a complicating factor, primarily due to concerns that letting casinos offer online gambling would hurt rapidly growing revenues from the state's iLottery. The Lottery sent nearly $1 billion to the state's school fund in the last fiscal year for which figures are available, 7 per cent of which came from online games.
The average Canadian’s non-mortgage debt may increase by 1 per cent to $31,531 by the end of 2020, New York Stock Exchange-listed TransUnion Co. forecast. Delinquency rates may fall to 5.41 per cent this year from 5.54 per cent at the end of September before increasing to 5.44 per cent by the end of next year, the data showed.
Morgan Stanley is cutting about 2 per cent of its workforce due to an uncertain global economic outlook, CNBC reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter.
The buy-back strategy, including terms and amounts, is still under analysis, according to Jerrica Goodwin, an Edmonton-based spokeswoman at Alberta’s finance ministry said. The plan, which may start as soon as the next fiscal year beginning in April, won’t reduce overall debt outstanding but could allow Alberta to spread out maturities over the longer term, she said.
While still only “nascent” in most countries, Big Tech in countries like China has brought financial services within reach of underserved communities, the FSB, which is chaired by Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles, said in the report.
Reuters - Joseph Sipalan, Krishna N. Das, Matthew Tostevin (2019-12-10)
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is hopeful of reaching an out-of-court settlement with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) over the 1MDB scandal soon, but that compensation of “one point something billion” dollars offered by the bank was too small.
According to him, India's asset management space is poised for growth, and he expects the assets under management to touch Rs 42 lakh crore in the next three years. In June 2019, Toronto-based Manulife picked up 49 percent stake in Mahindra Asset Management Company (Mahindra AMC) for $35 million (Rs 243 crore).
In the summer of 2018, HSBC announced a new energy policy under which it would stop providing financial services to a large portion of the Canadian energy industry. The move directly targeted Canada, despite this country’s record of environmental innovation and protection. The bank said its energy policy was designed to encourage economic development without having an unacceptable impact on people or the environment. Activist groups cheered the move and wagged their fingers at Canada’s energy industry, urging the country to get on board an ill-defined anti-industry movement. Little did we know that soon after waving goodbye to Canada, HSBC would fly into the open arms of Saudi Arabia, a regime notorious for a poor human rights record and lacking Canada’s stringent regulations and high environmental standards. You may have heard that the world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, based in Saudi Arabia, has been preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) of shares.
Mark Carney, recently tapped by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to be UN Special Envoy for Climate Change, is no stranger to big challenges.
The unwillingness of the top four U.S. banks to lend cash combined with a burst of demand from hedge funds for secured funding could explain a recent spike in U.S. money market rates, the Bank for International Settlements said.
When Santana Wooden opened T’Sala Salon Spa, a storefront on the Squamish Nation’s reserve in North Vancouver, the only thing it offered was manicures and pedicures. After hearing about the Squamish Nation Trust (SNT), a fund to help entrepreneurs who are members of the First Nation, Ms. Wooden applied and got a grant of around $6,000. The money helped her buy equipment to allow her to expand her offerings to include waxing, massages and facial services. Now, her growing business has moved off reserve to Lower Lonsdale, a vibrant North Vancouver waterfront neighbourhood with more foot traffic and tourism.
The Canadian economy posted its biggest monthly job loss since the financial crisis in November, pushing the unemployment rate higher and raising the possibility the Bank of Canada may cut interest rates next year.
Now that Stephen Poloz has announced he will step down as Bank of Canada Governor after his seven-year term ends in June 2020, attention turns to the possible candidates who might replace him. Here are six possibilities.
Aggregate earnings among the Big Six banks were down six per cent quarter-over-quarter and five per cent year-over-year, Colangelo said. Provisions for loan losses, meanwhile, were up 17 per cent over the previous quarter and 36 per cent from a year earlier, weighing on the lenders’ bottom lines.
Swedbank said on Monday its chief risk officer was leaving as the Swedish bank revamps its structure to regain customer trust after a money laundering scandal in its Baltic branches sent its shares down 40% in the past year.
Insolvencies in Canada are seeing a big increase these days. There were 13,512 insolvency filings in October, up 11% from a month before. The monthly number is up 13% when compared to the same month last year. There were 139,194 insolvencies in the 12-months ending in October, up 8.8% from a period one year before. This implies growth could be accelerating even faster.
Ms. Garrett, a television personality who runs a ministry in Los Angeles, accused her half brother, Bernard Garrett Jr., a son of the man played by Mr. Mackie and one of the film’s co-producers, of sexually abusing her and her younger sister when they were children in the 1970s. Apple removed his name from publicity materials, and he no longer appears as a producer of “The Banker” on the website IMDB, which lists film credits.Apple has struggled to find its footing as it tries to go Hollywood. Critics were lukewarm at best about “The Morning Show,” the star-studded, big-budget flagship series on Apple TV Plus, the streaming platform that went live Nov. 1. And now one of Apple’s first films, “The Banker,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie, is in limbo after the company pulled it from a theatrical run that was scheduled to start Friday.
Blue Prism is testing an AI-enabled platform for insurers that can interpret the validity of claims and make recommendations for human examiners. With approval from the examiners, the robot can process the claim, significantly reducing the time and effort needed to handle a case from start to finish, Mr. Geary said.
Mark Wiseman’s ouster from investment giant BlackRock Inc. over his failure to disclose an affair with a colleague marks an abrupt exit for one of the most powerful Canadians on Wall Street.
Canadian banks ended the 2019 fiscal year on a sour note, as Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported lower profits amid deteriorating credit conditions and signs of economic stress.
G&M - CAROLYN COHN, STEPHEN KALIN AND MARWA RASHAD (2019-12-06)
Saudi Aramco is looking to buy insurance against war and terror attacks after a damaging drone and missile attack on some of its oil facilities in September, two sources told Reuters.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce suffered a 6-per-cent dip in fourth-quarter profit as the bank earmarked large sums of money to cover potential loan losses.
In the November conference call, however, Mr. Wetmore said the company’s financial-services division continues to have “great performance” and there are “no signs from our data on a weakening economy or credit-card portfolio.”
Canada’s investment advisory industry has evolved through consolidation and new products to meet the needs of a more demanding and active investing public over the past two decades. Unfortunately, its regulatory structure has not kept pace. Overlapping regulatory organizations and outdated rules are limiting innovation and efficiency.
The Canadian economy remains resilient despite the global uncertainty caused by the trade war between the United States and China, a senior Bank of Canada official said Thursday.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported $1.19 billion of net profit in the fourth quarter, down six per cent from the comparable period of 2018, while its adjusted earnings of $2.84 per share came in below analyst estimates.
A new “normal” appears to be setting in for Canada’s biggest banks that is driving up the amount of money they need to put away for bad loans — and helping to put a dent in their bottom lines.
The World Bank on Thursday adopted a plan to aid China with $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025, despite the objections of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
A prosecution witness in an Australian criminal cartel case against Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) said on Friday that the banks never colluded, but that he helped a regulator build its case to get immunity.
OSFI last revised Guideline B-6 in 2012. Since then, market practices have evolved and the complexity of both measuring and managing liquidity risk has increased. Through its supervisory work and assessments of liquidity risk practices, OSFI identified areas of the guideline that required revisions.
The streets of French cities were filled with anti-government demonstrators, tear gas and police officers on Thursday as Emmanuel Macron again faced what has become an emblem of his presidency: social unrest. This time it was a general strike over his plans to overhaul the country’s pension system.
The new readers have the technical ability to accept credit or debit card payments, but the Société de transport de Montréal says it doesn’t yet have the “technological solution” to allow for those kind of payments to work.
In the coming years, key high value and real-time payment systems, and correspondent banking by SWIFT, will converge around ISO 20022. A reinvigorated global value transfer platform will emerge and banking customers will benefit through improved service. Cross-border payments are often plagued by highly variable, limited, unstructured and ambiguous data -- which leads to complex processing and manual interventions. With ISO 20022, banks will be able to bring additional speed, lower costs and improved compliance to their correspondent networks.
About half of all issued corporate bond debt is rated triple-B, the lowest score for investment-grade debt. Analysts say all this debt could be a mess in the making, especially if the economy enters a recession. WSJ's Gunjan Banerji explains.
In a statement, they acknowledge some of the potential benefits of stablecoins but also warn about risks, including on consumer protection, privacy, taxation, cyber security, money laundering, terrorism financing, market integrity, governance and legal certainty.
“The environment around investment is still really not that great,” Conference Board of Canada chief economist Pedro Antunes said Wednesday. The Conference Board’s forecast of 2.4 per cent real GDP growth next year followed by 3.1 per cent growth in 2021 was “prudent,” Antunes said.
In the book, he says he played an active behind-the scenes role in last year’s renegotiation of the NAFTA agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and worked for more than two years to try to forge an important new trade deal between the U.S. and China.
RBC announced the launch of its RBC Ventures Inc. subsidiary in June 2018. At the time, the bank set out to acquire five million users of the various products and services within five years, as well as to convert 10 per cent of those people, or 500,000, to customers of the bank itself.
“We are talking to a number of people about that but I don’t have a project that I could announce,” Dan Barclay, chief executive officer and group head of BMO Capital Markets, said in an interview in Toronto. It’s not clear if BMO would help finance the project or underwrite the debt.
“He’s two-faced,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Trudeau when asked if he had seen the video, which was recorded by an ABC News cameraman on Tuesday evening during a reception for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace.
Royal Bank of Canada is starting to feel the sting of slowing economic growth and trade, as fourth-quarter profit slipped and its chief executive officer warned of “challenging” days ahead.
The co-founder, chairman and chief executive of alternative asset manager Blackstone Group Inc. has US$148-billion of client capital he needs to put to use – an almost unimaginable amount of what’s known in the industry as dry powder. Mr. Schwarzman is confident the New York-based company can invest it all, and earn handsome profits.
For most of his stint as governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney has moonlighted as a climate change crusader. So, it was no surprise to learn that he has signed on to become the United Nations special envoy on climate action once his current gig is up in January.
Blame inflation. The RBI cited concerns about rising prices, given that headline inflation breached its 4% medium-term target in October. Food prices have skyrocketed as a result of heavy rainfall, with the cost of onions up 45% in September and a further 20% the following month, according to the central bank’s statement. With India’s economy crumbling all around him, it strikes me as a bit short-sighted that RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is getting caught up in vegetables. Gross domestic product increased just 4.5% in the third quarter, government figures showed last week. Little more than a year ago, India was notching an expansion of more than 8%. If demand is sliding then price increases ought to subside. There's little inflation in a graveyard.
Denis Berthiaume who held the position of senior EVP and chief operating officer of Desjardins has been replaced by chief financial officer Réal Bellemare, who will also act as interim head of IT following the departure of current incumbent Chadi Habib.
The move could open up the market to a wave of fintech firms relying on alternative data sources to provide credit to consumers who would traditionally be turned away by financial firms applying strict credit scoring tools.
Greater Toronto home prices reached a new all-time high, according to the benchmark. TREB reported the composite benchmark hit $815,800 in November, up 6.83% from last year. The City of Toronto reached $903,700, up 6.99% from last year. This is an all-time high for the composite, but detached units haven’t returned. Instead, this is largely led by condo apartments, which are increasing nearly double digits once again.
Desjardins Group is shaking up its senior leadership ranks in the wake of a massive privacy breach that hit all its 4.2-million members earlier this year.
Dennis Gartman’s decision to end his daily investing newsletter says a lot about the transformation the investing world has undergone over the past generation.
Home sales in Vancouver and Toronto jumped in November compared with last year, when prospective homebuyers were grappling with tougher mortgage rules and rising interest rates.
Alberta's credit rating has been downgraded by Moody's, with the agency citing the volatility in the province's dependence on oil and continued fiscal pressures.
The charge was tied to severance and some small real estate-related costs, which BMO said were in part tied to “key bank-wide initiatives focused on digitization, organizational redesign and simplification of the way we do business.”
In the summer of 2018, HSBC announced a new energy policy under which it would stop providing financial services to a large portion of the Canadian energy industry. The move directly targeted Canada, despite this country’s record of environmental innovation and protection. The bank said its energy policy was designed to encourage economic development without having an unacceptable impact on people or the environment. Activist groups cheered the move and wagged their fingers at Canada’s energy industry, urging the country to get on board an ill-defined anti-industry movement.
Postal Savings Bank of China (1658.HK) said investors had opted out of paying for 3% of shares on offer in its Shanghai listing - a rare development that underscores growing concerns over problems in China’s banking system.
Fronted will offer users the chance to link their bank account to the startup's platform using Open Banking. Then, the firm will pay their deposits directly to the estate agents and arrange repayment. This technique, says Fronted, enables it to lend at very low rates with no fees, no early repayment penalties and the option to reduce monthly payments with a ‘holiday mode’ feature.
Steve Eisman, portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman, joins BNN Bloomberg to provide his latest take on the Canadian bank earnings and why he's now shorting Canadian Tire.
Reuters - John O'Donnell, Tom Sims, Matt Scuffham (2019-12-03)
The U.S. Department of Justice has in recent weeks stepped up its investigation into Deutsche Bank’s role in the 200 billion euro ($220 billion) Danske Bank money laundering scandal, four people familiar with the inquiry told Reuters.
Bloomberg - Divya Balji and Brandon Kochkodin (2019-12-03)
Pot stocks had another tumultuous month, gold miners slumped as the price of the metal fell and the macro risk is still out there, with sluggish economic growth and an impending U.S.-China trade resolution hanging in the balance.
If there’s any nation where it seems fortunes could be made by getting in early on digital payments, it’s India. The population of 1.4 billion is still wedded to cash, which accounts for about 70% of transactions by value. But the government is trying to get more people into the formal financial system.
Robo-adviser Wealthsimple is in discussions with several Canadian wealth managers as it looks to separate its Wealthsimple for Advisers business in order to focus on its online services for direct consumers.
The bank said Tuesday the quarter ended Oct. 31 included a $357-million restructuring charge as a result of a decision to accelerate delivery of digitization initiatives and simplification of the way it does business.
As multiple Canadian pipeline projects linger in limbo, Russia and China have just turned on the taps on a natural gas behemoth long enough to connect Timmins, Ont., to Burnaby, B.C.
Canada should swap Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou for two Canadians detained in China in a “prisoner exchange,” says former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley, who is a director of a Canadian telecommunications company that uses equipment from the Chinese multinational.
During October, Canadians filed the highest number of personal insolvencies in a decade, the latest sign that households are struggling to cope with elevated debt loads.
G&M - LEIKA KIHARA AND TETSUSHI KAJIMOTO (2019-12-03)
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday he saw no need to expand monetary stimulus now, underscoring the central bank’s preference to save its dwindling ammunition in case the economy takes a bigger hit from heightening overseas risks.
Canada’s fourth-largest lender said net income fell to $1.19 billion, or $1.78 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, from $1.69 billion, or $2.57 per share, a year earlier.
Figures released last week show that despite an overall decline to 1.3 per cent in Canadian GDP, housing, consumer activity, construction and business investment were all holding up well.
For instance, a search of BIS’s web site produced no references to stablecoins until after Facebook’s formal June 18 announcement of its plan to launch Libra by 2020. At the Bank of England, stablecoins were generally dismissed as not so stable. “Time will tell,” a Bank of England blog post said in early 2019, “but it seems unlikely that these algorithmic stablecoins will be replacing national currencies any time soon.”
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) are among a group of at least 14 investors pumping $229 million into an international fintech fund run by Portag3 Ventures, an early-stage investor established by companies under the umbrella of the Desmarais family’s Power Corp.
Intact’s acquisition of both The Guarantee and Frank Cowan Company was first revealed in August; the P&C company purchased both for $1 billion in cash.
The main risk of the trade war, he said, is that, in a worst-case scenario, it can lead to a global recession. Another risk is its impact on the structure of economies and the removal of multi-lateral coordination and open markets. Without these open markets, he said, societies and economies will suffer and though insurance is likely to hold its value proposition, this will come at a higher cost.
The discontinuation of the province’s health plan, Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), takes effect January 01, 2020. The cancellation was originally planned to go live on October 01, 2019, but the implementation date was later pushed back.
“The insurance broker has emerged as a hot target in the (M&A) marketplace and there appear to be deals for insurance brokers happening almost every week as the big American consolidators come into Canada to buy up targets left and right to try to gain competitive advantages,” said Michael Carolan, senior vice president of corporate finance at KPMG Canada.
Wells Fargo & Co said on Monday Scott Powell will become chief operating officer, the second external recruit to join the top ranks since Chief Executive Charles Scharf took over six weeks ago.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will lead a push by the United Nations to make the financial sector take full account of the risks posed by climate change, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday.
Questrade Financial Group Inc. is continuing to expand its footprint in the financial-services industry with an application for a Canadian banking licence, allowing it to diversify beyond low-cost stock trading for Canadians.
Bank of Nova Scotia has reached a deal to sell its operations in the British Virgin Islands as the Canadian bank continues to shrink its Caribbean footprint.
FP - Paula Sambo and Sandrine Rastello (2019-12-02)
“The conflict between China and the United States is not going away anytime soon,” the 66-year-old told reporters after a speech in Montreal. “I think it is going to change some global trading patterns, it is potentially going to change some important things around the evolution of technology, 5G.”
China’s factory activity showed surprising signs of improvement in November, with growth picking up to a near three-year high, a private sector survey showed on Monday, reinforcing upbeat government data released over the weekend.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia are expected to extend output cuts this week and could increase the size of the curb by at least 400,000 barrels per day, two sources said.
The British lender is consulting shareholders on the proposal in a review of its remuneration policy to be voted on at the bank’s annual meeting next year, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Warren Buffett has frequently touted his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as a home for businesses away from what he said was the debt-fueled, quick-turnoverappetite of private equity firms. But the Berkshire name wasn’t enough for Tech Data Corp.
Three years ago Tidjane Thiam stirred hopes that the banking industry was looking at new ways to tackle its bloated cost base. The chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group AG said his company was working on a common platform with another lender to share expenses.
NY Times - Farnaz Fassihi and Rick Gladstone (2019-12-02)
Iran is experiencing its deadliest political unrest since the Islamic Revolution 40 years ago, with at least 180 people killed — and possibly hundreds more — as angry protests have been smothered in a government crackdown of unbridled force.
Investing is cheaper than ever. Trading is free, some index funds may as well be, and a diversified portfolio can be built by machines for a fraction of the cost of live professionals who deliver advice in an elegant leather binder.
Canadian inflation is touted as “low and stable,” but for whom is an interesting question to ponder. Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) when broken down, shows a huge gap in which costs are rising. While averaged out in a weighted basket, CPI looks low and stable. However, when broken down, we see costs rising that disproportionately impact young people.
On November 29th, an official announcement on the echange's website announced that Lei Guorong had "gone missing with unknown cause and Idax Global staffs were out of touch with Idax Global CEO".
In the wake of the latest B.C. bitcoin scandals, I talked to the executive director of the provincial securities commission, Peter Brady, who warned investors to be careful because, sometimes, there is nothing the regulator can do.
More than 8,000 aspiring chartered professional accountants will have to wait until next year to find out if they have received their CPA designation, putting their professional lives on hold after technology problems caused hours-long delays in some parts of the country during September’s gruelling three-day national final examination.
Brazilian state-controlled lender Banco do Brasil SA (BBAS3.SA) sees its profits likely growing 10% in 2020 from this year, its Chief Financial Officer Carlos Hamilton Araujo said on Thursday in a meeting with analysts.
Poland’s banking stocks and currency tumbled on Thursday after the country’s top court issued an unfavourable ruling in a closely watched and potentially expensive dispute over foreign-exchange mortgages.
The rate paid by Canadian households is up from last month, but still down from last year. The effective interest rate reached 3.72% on November 22nd, up 0.54% from last year. This represents a 6.06% decline compared to last year. Not a big increase from last month, but we’re at the highest level in a few months.
InfoPensions includes announcements and reminders on matters relevant to federally regulated private pension plans and pooled registered pension plans. It includes descriptions of how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) applies various provisions of the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, their regulations, directives and OSFI guidance. Plan administrators should obtain appropriate professional advice on how the legislation and guidelines affect their particular pension plan.
A government adviser said Ontario house hunters should be warned about properties at risk of flooding, a proposal that would have far-ranging implications for real estate transactions in Canada’s most populous province.
Rather than create its own digital currency, dubbed ‘ZuckBucks’ by US politicians, eToro believes the issuance of stablecoins backed by fiat currencies should be delegated to regulated third party partners. This would remove Facebook from the responsibility of controlling a currency, so it could focus on Calibra becoming the first wallet to provide infrastructure for a payment system that could be accessed by over 2.7 billion users globally via WhatsApp and other Facebook platforms.
The Californian startup has seen huge take up since launching its free stock trading app in 2015, hitting a valuation of over $7 billion in its latest funding round.
Mr. Poloz’s seven-year term as Bank of Canada governor expires at the beginning of next June. While the rules do allow a sitting governor to apply to return to the job for a second term, one-and-done has become the norm. The Bank of Canada hasn’t had anyone re-enlist since Gerald Bouey 40 years ago.
CI Financial Corp. has moved into the United States market for the first time with the purchase of a majority stake in Surevest Wealth Management, a Phoenix-based investment advisory business.
But nobody on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee in October really wanted to hear Facebook Inc. chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony about his plan to shake up the global money system with a new, private currency. Instead, he had to deal with the usual grandstanding politicians whose main objective, from their power soapboxes in the committee room, was to make the head of the US$70-billion tech giant grovel. But his opening statement is worth another look: “As we sit here, there are more than a billion people around the world who don’t have a bank account but could through mobile phones if the right system existed,” Zuckerberg said about Facebook’s proposal to lead a band of tech companies — including Uber Technologies Inc., Spotify Technology SA and Vodaphone Group PLC — in creating a new currency, a “stablecoin” called Libra.
Perhaps the best real-world demonstration of the concept behind the Libra plan is the Hong Kong dollar, which is managed through a currency board structure rather than a formal central bank. Established in 1983, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority issues currency that is fully backed and exchanged, dollar for dollar, though a reserve of U.S. dollars at a fixed rate of around 7.8 HK$ per US$.
Venezuela’s government and its oil company PDVSA have offered to pay suppliers and contractors into accounts in China using the yuan currency, five people familiar with the matter said.
As part of a broad overhaul, Deutsche has hived off billions in assets into a so-called capital release unit, also called a bad bank. The sale to Goldman marks the latest in a series of disposals of such assets.
Iran’s top leader on Wednesday denounced an outbreak of deadly unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy” as authorities reported about 731 banks and 140 government sites had been torched in the disturbances.
Insurance Business - Bethan Moorcraft (2020-12-07)
Enter, rate comparison websites. They’re all the rage in the UK and the USA, where consumers use comparison sites to shop for insurance much like Canadians do when comparing travel costs on sites like Expedia and Trivago. But Canadians are slowly starting to catch on to the insurance comparison trend. They’re searching for and finding platforms like LowestRates.ca, which is enabling consumers to compare insurance premium prices across a number of product lines, primarily in auto and home insurance.
Investors fled UK property funds at the tail-end of the week faster than at any point this year as concerns brew over a repeat of the crisis that engulfed the sector following the EU referendum.
Swiss lawmakers are preparing a campaign that would make targeting climate change one of the policy objectives of the Swiss National Bank, alongside the traditional monetary targets of ensuring price stability and fostering economic growth.
Investors fled UK property funds at the tail-end of the week faster than at any point this year as concerns brew over a repeat of the crisis that engulfed the sector following the EU referendum.
Swiss lawmakers are preparing a campaign that would make targeting climate change one of the policy objectives of the Swiss National Bank, alongside the traditional monetary targets of ensuring price stability and fostering economic growth.
A flurry of Chinese banks are being forced to buy back shares to stabilise their stock prices following a series of bank bailouts and mounting pressure on the country’s financial system.
Parliament will set up a special committee to review all aspects of Canada’s strained relationship with China amid a prolonged diplomatic and trade dispute with its second-largest trading partner.
Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg has handed his role as United Nations climate envoy to Mark Carney, thrusting the Canadian governor of the Bank of England to the forefront of the global effort to prepare companies and lenders for potentially catastrophic climate change.
Since last December, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has gradually increased its “domestic stability buffer,” or DSB, citing “elevated” risks to the banking sector from high household and corporate indebtedness, as well as imbalances in housing markets. The buffer is a capital requirement that OSFI imposes over and above other elements used to set minimum capital ratios.
The U.S. Federal Reserve holds its last policy meeting of 2019 on Wednesday, having completed a year-long U-turn that saw it abandon a tightening cycle and lower borrowing costs three times in response to the global trade war.
Strategic Group, one of Canada’s largest private real estate developers and managers, has placed its Alberta properties under creditor protection, citing cavernous office vacancy due to the severe downturn in the oil patch.â
To say the U.S. Federal Reserve has abruptly shifted its rate policy into neutral would be an understatement. It has put rates in park, shut off the engine and chucked the keys off the nearest bridge.
This year’s report provides more detail on each fee, such as the type and rate of adjustment, the service standard and the performance result. This information provides additional context on each fee, in the spirit of open and transparent fee management.
Volcker, who Zima said had been suffering from prostate cancer, was the first to bring celebrity status to the job of U.S. central banker, serving as chairman of the Fed from 1979 to 1987. As with the man who succeeded him, Alan Greenspan, Volcker could soothe or excite financial markets with just a vague murmur.
The buy-back strategy, including terms and amounts, is still under analysis, according to Jerrica Goodwin, an Edmonton-based spokeswoman at Alberta’s finance ministry said. The plan, which may start as soon as the next fiscal year beginning in April, won’t reduce overall debt outstanding but could allow Alberta to spread out maturities over the longer term, she said.
While still only “nascent” in most countries, Big Tech in countries like China has brought financial services within reach of underserved communities, the FSB, which is chaired by Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles, said in the report.
Reuters - Joseph Sipalan, Krishna N. Das, Matthew Tostevin (2019-12-10)
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is hopeful of reaching an out-of-court settlement with Goldman Sachs (GS.N) over the 1MDB scandal soon, but that compensation of “one point something billion” dollars offered by the bank was too small.
Mark Carney, recently tapped by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to be UN Special Envoy for Climate Change, is no stranger to big challenges.
Now that Stephen Poloz has announced he will step down as Bank of Canada Governor after his seven-year term ends in June 2020, attention turns to the possible candidates who might replace him. Here are six possibilities.
The Canadian economy remains resilient despite the global uncertainty caused by the trade war between the United States and China, a senior Bank of Canada official said Thursday.
The World Bank on Thursday adopted a plan to aid China with $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025, despite the objections of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The streets of French cities were filled with anti-government demonstrators, tear gas and police officers on Thursday as Emmanuel Macron again faced what has become an emblem of his presidency: social unrest. This time it was a general strike over his plans to overhaul the country’s pension system.
In a statement, they acknowledge some of the potential benefits of stablecoins but also warn about risks, including on consumer protection, privacy, taxation, cyber security, money laundering, terrorism financing, market integrity, governance and legal certainty.
“He’s two-faced,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Trudeau when asked if he had seen the video, which was recorded by an ABC News cameraman on Tuesday evening during a reception for NATO leaders at Buckingham Palace.
Blame inflation. The RBI cited concerns about rising prices, given that headline inflation breached its 4% medium-term target in October. Food prices have skyrocketed as a result of heavy rainfall, with the cost of onions up 45% in September and a further 20% the following month, according to the central bank’s statement. With India’s economy crumbling all around him, it strikes me as a bit short-sighted that RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is getting caught up in vegetables. Gross domestic product increased just 4.5% in the third quarter, government figures showed last week. Little more than a year ago, India was notching an expansion of more than 8%. If demand is sliding then price increases ought to subside. There's little inflation in a graveyard.
Greater Toronto home prices reached a new all-time high, according to the benchmark. TREB reported the composite benchmark hit $815,800 in November, up 6.83% from last year. The City of Toronto reached $903,700, up 6.99% from last year. This is an all-time high for the composite, but detached units haven’t returned. Instead, this is largely led by condo apartments, which are increasing nearly double digits once again.
Home sales in Vancouver and Toronto jumped in November compared with last year, when prospective homebuyers were grappling with tougher mortgage rules and rising interest rates.
Alberta's credit rating has been downgraded by Moody's, with the agency citing the volatility in the province's dependence on oil and continued fiscal pressures.
G&M - LEIKA KIHARA AND TETSUSHI KAJIMOTO (2019-12-03)
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday he saw no need to expand monetary stimulus now, underscoring the central bank’s preference to save its dwindling ammunition in case the economy takes a bigger hit from heightening overseas risks.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will lead a push by the United Nations to make the financial sector take full account of the risks posed by climate change, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday.
FP - Paula Sambo and Sandrine Rastello (2019-12-02)
“The conflict between China and the United States is not going away anytime soon,” the 66-year-old told reporters after a speech in Montreal. “I think it is going to change some global trading patterns, it is potentially going to change some important things around the evolution of technology, 5G.”
Canadian inflation is touted as “low and stable,” but for whom is an interesting question to ponder. Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) when broken down, shows a huge gap in which costs are rising. While averaged out in a weighted basket, CPI looks low and stable. However, when broken down, we see costs rising that disproportionately impact young people.
The rate paid by Canadian households is up from last month, but still down from last year. The effective interest rate reached 3.72% on November 22nd, up 0.54% from last year. This represents a 6.06% decline compared to last year. Not a big increase from last month, but we’re at the highest level in a few months.
InfoPensions includes announcements and reminders on matters relevant to federally regulated private pension plans and pooled registered pension plans. It includes descriptions of how the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) applies various provisions of the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, their regulations, directives and OSFI guidance. Plan administrators should obtain appropriate professional advice on how the legislation and guidelines affect their particular pension plan.
Mr. Poloz’s seven-year term as Bank of Canada governor expires at the beginning of next June. While the rules do allow a sitting governor to apply to return to the job for a second term, one-and-done has become the norm. The Bank of Canada hasn’t had anyone re-enlist since Gerald Bouey 40 years ago.
Federal Reserve officials have increasingly acknowledged that the labor market might have more room to run, and Chair Jerome H. Powell made the point in perhaps the plainest way yet during a Monday evening speech.
“We are monitoring all indicators on a daily basis and if there is any squeeze on liquidity, definitely we’ll be injecting liquidity but so far ... everything is assuring,” he said.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York added $80.6 billion in temporary liquidity to the financial system on Friday. It also bought $7.50 billion in Treasury bills.
Argentina is once again buckling under the weight of its sovereign debts, which total around US$100-billion, and Mr. Fernandez needs to urgently agree a deal with creditors to ease the burden and give his government space to try to revive the economy.
G&M - PIERRE L. SIKLOS AND MICHAEL D. BORDO (2019-11-24)
In the coming months, the Bank of Canada‘s mandate to target inflation is coming up for review. Some have suggested that the mandate should be expanded to include responsibility for financial stability, defined as heading off the imbalances that could trigger a severe financial crisis, such as what the world experienced just more than a decade ago. In a recent C.D. Howe Institute report, we argue, marshalling historical and empirical evidence, that granting the Bank an explicit mandate to target financial stability is not a good idea, and that doing so would create a conflict with its tried and true mandate for price stability.
A report earlier this year from the International Monetary Fund estimated that removing interprovincial trade barriers would add nearly 4 per cent to Canada’s gross domestic product – “a much larger gain than expected from recently signed international trade agreements,” the IMF said. The estimated economic gains amount to about $80-billion annually, or more than $2,000 per Canadian.
The report by Miguel Molico, senior research director at the bank's Financial Stability Department, notes that carbon-intensive sectors like oil and gas could be negatively affected by significant changes in pricing in a transition away from a carbon economy.
During the 2018-2019 fiscal year, OSFI commissioned Sage Research Corporation, an independent research firm, to conduct a confidential consultation with deposit-taking institution Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers and other senior executives, to help OSFI monitor its effectiveness in discharging key elements of its mandate. OSFI has commissioned consultations with senior members of the financial community to obtain their assessment of OSFI's effectiveness as a regulator and supervisor since 1998.
After a first term in the Finance Minister’s office that featured a few strong steps, some stumbles and too much foot-dragging, Bill Morneau has plenty of unfinished business to address as he returns for another term. If he wants to make the most of his second chance, the top of that to-do list should be tackling Canada’s badly eroded competitiveness.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met at the White House on Monday in their second meeting since Powell started the job in February 2017, and soon became the target of criticism from the president who appointed him.
This year, I didn’t attend the October annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, DC. Instead, I paid close attention to reports of the gathering and talked to people who were there whom I respect. What emerged is depressing for the wellbeing of the global economy. In particular, the prospect of continued weakness and fragmentation pressures will compound the challenges to the credibility and effectiveness of multilateral institutions.
Even more worryingly, the Fund’s policy recommendations – especially those pertaining to the advanced economies – have little impact (to put it politely). One need only look at the widening gulf between what IMF officials have said and the bland, repetitive language of the IMFC communiques. The policy insights fall on more deaf ears when finance ministers and central bankers are back in their national capitals, underscoring the current ineffectiveness of what once was a key opportunity for improving win-win policies.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced the decision at the Fund’s and World Bank’s annual meetings, saying that the initiative will provide confidence that the IMF can adequately support member countries as they deal with slowing global growth.
Businesses regulated in Ontario’s capital markets will save close to $8 million a year following implementation of a swath of new “burden reduction” reforms to be unveiled Tuesday by the Ontario Securities Commission.
The Federal Reserve identified elevated asset prices and historically high debt owed by U.S. businesses as top vulnerabilities facing the U.S. financial system, according to the latest central bank financial-stability report.
The Bank of Canada is proposing a new liquidity facility that would provide loans to financial institutions that are suffering temporary shocks as a result of incidents such as cyberattacks, system failures and natural disasters.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney contends that withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan would return billions of dollars a year to the province, but experts question how large the savings would be from going it alone.
The U.S. government recorded a $134 billion budget deficit in October, the first month of the new fiscal year, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.
Eric Rosengren warned on Monday many top central banks have a limited tool kit to deal with the next downturn, and added efforts to roll back regulations on banks may be exacerbating risks to the financial sector.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says there’s a “compelling case” to be made for his province to exit the half-century-old Canada Pension Plan — an idea sure to face increasing scrutiny over the coming months.
The tax cut and other measures were part of a mini-budget that showed the Ontario government’s projected deficit for the current 2019-20 fiscal year is now $9 billion, down from the $10.3 billion estimated in the actual budget earlier this year.
In determining the timing and size of future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will assess realized and expected economic conditions relative to its maximum employment objective and its symmetric 2 percent inflation objective. This assessment will take into account a wide range of information, including measures of labor market conditions, indicators of inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and readings on financial and international developments.
States dabbling in blockchain technology, or planning to issue their own digital currencies, isn’t flattery – it’s competition. Some 70% of central banks surveyed by the Bank for International Settlements are examining their options in this area. In places like Sweden, rapidly going cashless, electronic “fiat” money is seen as a path to easier payments. If that works out, stateless crypto coins would lose one of their selling points.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting on a pledge to shrink the role of the U.S. dollar in international trade. Jean-Claude Juncker, outgoing president of the European Commission, says it’s “absurd” that Europe uses the greenback for 80% of energy imports. Chinese President Xi Jinping has railed against economic “hegemonism.” Can the mighty dollar retain its global dominance when attacked from so many sides? Don’t count it out yet.
When one part of the economy stumbles and another does rather well, the perfect policy would be support the laggard while holding back the rest to keep growth balanced. But the Federal Reserve doesn’t have that luxury.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York added $104.583 billion in temporary liquidity to financial markets Friday, when it also added permanent reserves to expand its balance sheet.
The Fedâs intervention came in two parts. One was through repurchase
Like a spooky planetary alignment, the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve both unmasked their monetary policy on the day before Halloween. But they had eerily discordant messages.
South Africa’s Finance Minister has revealed that the country’s debt is soaring much faster than expected, triggering a plunge in its currency and sparking fears of another downgrade in its credit rating.
The Canadian dollar weakened to a near two-week low against the greenback on Wednesday as expectations rose that the Bank of Canada would cut interest rates after the central bank expressed greater concern about global trade uncertainty.
In his opening statement during a meeting with members of the media, Poloz said the "worsening global situation" is the primary issue for the Canadian economy.
It is easy to forget that when oil prices crashed just five years ago, the Canadian economy lost what at the time was its single major economic engine. In the years before that, Canada's old industrial economy outside the oil and gas sector had been smashed, only slowly recovering from a loonie rising on the back of petroleum exports to an oil-hungry United States.
Markets largely expect another quarter-percentage-point rate cut. It is the Fed’s next step that is uncertain, and investors will closely watch for clues.
Britain is heading for an election on Dec. 12 and it will now be up to voters to try and resolve the Brexit conundrum that has bedevilled the country for more than three years.
President Donald Trump launched a fresh attack on the U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday as policymakers opened a two-day meeting that was expected to end with a decision to lower interest rates.
Economists and investors who are trying to get a fix on what the Federal Reserve may do in the months ahead have zeroed in on a single phrase in the statement it has issued after its most recent policy meetings.
The Bank of Canada is expected to hold interest rates steady one more time this week – and in doing so, separate itself further from the pack of central banks.
Outgoing European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi took his last policy meeting on Thursday. Critics says his eight-year tenure closes in exactly the same place he started: trying to prop up a perpetually ailing currency bloc. David Pollard reports.
Starting Thursday, the repo operation offerings will escalate to $120 billion from the current $75 billion as the central bank continues to calibrate the right amount of funding needed to keep the markets operating properly and to hold the overnight funds rate within its target range.
“The resulting higher spending and larger deficits may give a temporary lift to growth next year, but will also likely keep the Bank of Canada on hold for longer,” said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
FP - Robert Hutton and Kitty Donaldson (2019-10-21)
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said one shouldn’t be granted. But EU officials say that despite Macron, who made similar noises before approving a Brexit delay in April, it’s unlikely that he or any other leader would refuse another one, particularly if the U.K. was headed for a general election.
Reuters - Kylie MacLellan, Paul Sandle (2019-10-21)
The British government insisted on Sunday the country will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 despite a letter that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced by parliament to send to the bloc requesting a Brexit delay.
Christine Lagarde, who is set to take over as president of the European Central Bank, said in an interview that the U.S. risks diminishing its role as a global leader and warned of dire consequences of its trade war with China.
"These barriers prevent the free flow of people, goods and services across provincial borders. They make it more expensive to run a business. They hurt consumers with higher prices and less competition and they discourage and frustrate big dreaming innovators who want to change the world," Scheer said during a campaign stop in Quebec City. "It should not be easier to trade with other countries than between Canadian provinces. We are one free country. We should have one free market."
Britain clinched a Brexit deal with the European Union on Thursday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said, just a few hours before the start of a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels.
The Bank of Canada is considering launching a digital currency that would help it combat the “direct threat” of cryptocurrencies and collect more information on how people spend their money, The Logic has learned.
FT - Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong and Eva Szalay (2019-10-15)
A decade ago, China launched a high-profile challenge to the dominance of the US dollar, projecting a greater role for the renminbi in the global financial system.
Despite a return to deficit spending intended to boost the economy, Canada’s annual real GDP growth over the past four years has remained stuck in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 per cent, where it has been mired for most of the past decade. In a recent paper for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, I summarized how the persistence of mediocre growth for over a decade is a sobering reminder of the failure of extraordinary monetary and fiscal stimulus to lift long-term growth rates.
Deutsche Bank says it does not have copies of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax returns, a U.S. appeals court said on Thursday, closing one possible avenue for the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives to obtain the returns.
Lael Brainard, a Fed Board governor, said that while she supported some of the adjustments approved on Thursday, the overall package of changes went too far.
The Federal Reserve will provide new clues about its thinking on where to set interest rates when it releases the minutes of its Sept. 17-18 meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EDT.
Ten minutes after Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell insisted that the central bank restarting its Treasury purchases was “in no way” the same as the post-financial crisis policy of quantitative easing, one Wall St analyst sent a note to his clients saying that the new strategy “sure sounds like QE”.
“The Liberals would loosen fiscal policy by more than the Conservatives if they won October’s election, but neither party’s plans would seriously transform the economic outlook,” said Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics.
WSJ - Avantika Chilkoti, Paul J. Davies (2019-10-03)
The euro has drifted toward its lowest levels against the dollar in years as Europe takes the brunt of a global growth slowdown. Investors are now questioning: How low can it go?
Heading into October, it was clear Federal Reserve officials would face a difficult decision at their meeting at the end of the month. Just one day into October, the challenges have already become even more intense.
Tensions between the European Central Bank and Germany have again exploded into public view after the resignation of Sabine Lautenschläger, who represented the eurozone’s biggest economy on the central bank’s executive board.
Premier Jason Kenney responds to a Federal Court judge issuing an injunction against Alberta's legislation giving it the power to reduce oil shipments to B.C.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cast himself as a champion in the fight against climate change while pushing to expand an oil pipeline to help struggling producers, a contradiction that may hurt his re-election bid next month.
The Washington Post published an interesting bit of trivia this week. As of Sept. 18, Donald Trump had tweeted or retweeted nasty things about the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, an astonishing 43 times since the end of July.
The Bank of Canada has appointed long-time insider Toni Gravelle as one of its deputy governors, filling the vacancy created over the summer by the retirement of Lynn Patterson.
A weakening global economy and continued trade fears — and emphatically, he said, not angry words from U.S. President Donald Trump — convinced U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates on Wednesday for the second time this summer.
If you’re a suburban homeowner lying awake at night stressing about how you’ll ever get out from under your mountain of mortgage-infused debt, congratulations. You’re the most important voter in next month’s federal election.
Despite the fact that the quarter point cut was widely expected, the move had an immediate effect on the Canadian dollar which fell promptly after Powell's announcement.
Economists do not see the action as a signal about where the Fed plans to move its key policy rate, known as the federal funds rate, but rather as a technical exercise to keep the rate in the range set by the central bank.
Pity Jerome Powell. The chair of the United States Federal Reserve has just been called a bonehead by his boss. Now he faces the unenviable task of explaining the Fed’s latest interest-rate decision to increasingly baffled investors, while dealing with the aftermath of an unexpected squeeze in short-term funding markets.
G&M - MARTIN EICHENBAUM AND CHARLES MOSKOS (2019-09-16)
Canadian monetary policy is the legal responsibility of exactly one person, the Governor of the Bank of Canada. This single decision-maker structure is unique among the central banks of advanced economies. The last review of the bank’s governance structure was conducted by a parliamentary subcommittee in 1992 (known as the Manley Committee). It is time to assess the structure governing monetary policy decisions at the Bank of Canada once again.
With last week's declaration that the very smart people at the Federal Reserve are "boneheads," U.S. President Donald Trump has become perhaps the world's highest profile prognosticator of a North American crisis.
The European Central Bank’s decision Thursday to lower its key interest rate further below zero while relaunching an asset-purchase program means monetary policy in Europe is now even more stimulative than in the U.S.
As Draghi's eight-year mandate nears its close, the ECB cut rates deeper into negative territory and promised bond purchases with no end-date to push borrowing costs even lower, hoping to kick-start activity nearly a decade after the bloc's debt crisis.
Former justice minister and attorney-general Jody Wilson-Raybould met with RCMP investigators this week to discuss political interference in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., and is calling on the Trudeau government to waive cabinet confidentiality for her and all other witnesses to allow a thorough probe into potential obstruction of justice.
“The Federal Reserve should get our interest rates down to ZERO, or less, and we should then start to refinance our debt. INTEREST COST COULD BE BROUGHT WAY DOWN, while at the same time substantially lengthening the term,” Trump tweeted. “We have the great currency, power, and balance sheet... The USA should always be paying the … lowest rate. No Inflation!”
Jean Boivin wants to be clear about one thing: Neither he, nor his colleagues at the BlackRock Investment Institute, are predicting a global recession any time soon. Which seems incongruous, considering that he has been telling central bankers they need to get ready now for the next big one.
Canadians "have an important choice to make" about their country's future path, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said today as he triggered the official launch of the federal election campaign.
But the most important is the participation to the national debate," Bernier said on Wednesday, the first day of the campaign ahead of the Oct. 21 vote.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit Governor-General Julie Payette on Wednesday morning to kick off the election campaign, Liberal sources said.
The budget predicts deficits of $19.8 billion in 2019-20; $19.7 billion in 2020-21; and $14.8 billion in 2021-22. Not only have they broken promises to adhere to fiscally responsible spending, but they have no timetable to reduce deficits for the near future should they be re-elected.
G&M - BRENNA HUGHES NEGHAIWI AND JOHN REVILL (2019-09-09)
The U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to act “as appropriate” to sustain the economic expansion in the world’s biggest economy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday in Zurich, sticking to a phrase that financial markets have taken to signal further rate reductions, but declining to be more specific.
The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve will be under even greater scrutiny over the next 10 days as their policy-making committees discuss recent economic developments, update their assessment of prospects and adopt whatever actions and guidance they deem necessary. The outcome will most likely satisfy those looking for the world’s two most influential central banks to further loosen monetary policy.
G&M - FARAI MUTSAKA AND CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA (2019-09-06)
Robert Mugabe, the former leader of Zimbabwe forced to resign in 2017 after a 37-year rule whose early promise was eroded by economic turmoil, disputed elections and human rights violations, has died. He was 95.
Trade policy uncertainty driven by the Trump administration’s escalating dispute with China means hundreds of billions of dollars in lost U.S. output and as much as US$850-billion lost globally through early next year, research published this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve suggests.
When the central bank left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, it emphasized that inflation was right at its rough target of two per cent. And the first speech by one of the institution’s leaders since early July was based on, you guessed it, the Bank of Canada’s latest thinking about inflation.
Governor Stephen Poloz is widely expected to hold the overnight interest rate at 1.75 per cent as the bank delivers its first policy announcement — or public commentary of any kind — since early July.
Reuters - Howard Schneider, Ann Saphir (2019-09-04)
The dueling views - from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who called for a half-a-percentage-point rate cut, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, who saw no immediate need for any move - show the tight spot Fed Chair Jerome Powell finds himself in as the Fed’s next policy-setting meeting approaches.
Bloomberg - Natalie Wong and Paula Sambo (2019-09-04)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make housing more affordable for first-time buyers. His efforts may be of little help to people in the country’s priciest cities.
In a major concession to protesters, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam plans to withdraw the China extradition bill that sparked months of at times violent street demonstrations.
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, which has recently stopped shrinking, may once again start growing later this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday.
Canada has selected Dominic Barton as its next ambassador to Beijing, moving to end a months-long gap without a top diplomat in the world’s second-largest economy amid a damaging dispute between the two countries.
In the face of a burgeoning international trade crisis and rising global recession fears, the Bank of Canada had a golden opportunity to signal that it is preparing to jump onto the rate-cutting bandwagon that most of the world’s major central banks have already boarded over the summer.
Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers and Anna Stansbury recently cast doubt on the future of central banking, suggesting that the prevailing monetary-policy framework is in dire need of a rethink. I agree and have been calling for a reconsideration of “Old Keynesian economics” for more than a decade, starting with an article I published in 2006, two years before the Great Recession made it fashionable to question the way we think about macroeconomic theory. I am heartened that the narrative and body of research I have developed continues to gain public support.
The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent Wednesday, but said the U.S.-China trade conflict is having a more damaging impact on global growth than previously thought.
Fearing market disruptions, both the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve will most likely take more stimulus measures this month regardless of what their analyses tell them about the potential impact on the economy and financial assets. That has implications for both future economic prosperity and medium-term financial stability, and it adds to the to-do list for policy makers and investors.
Canadians last heard the Bank of Canada’s take on the economy in the early days of summer — and the timing of its next update has the potential to tinge political debate during the federal election campaign.
Since the bank’s most recent public comments in early July, there’s mounting evidence of a slowing global economy mostly due to the escalating U.S.-China trade war — including fresh Chinese tariffs Friday and new threats on Twitter from U.S. President Donald Trump that shook up markets.
The Bank of Canada’s latest message underlined the resilience of the domestic economy, and it appeared in no rush to move its policy even as other central banks were poised to lower rates to respond to the already dimming international outlook.
The next policy meeting is scheduled for Sept. 4, while the election campaign is widely expected to start at some point during the first two weeks of September. The central bank will release a statement with its rate decision, and the following day deputy governor Lawrence Schembri will provide more detail about the governing council’s thinking when he gives a speech and holds a news conference in Halifax.
Bloomberg - Carolina Millan and Jorgelina Do Rosario (2019-08-29)
Hemmed in by an uphill re-election bid and a worsening debt and currency crisis, Argentine President Mauricio Macri will try to cajole creditors into giving the country more time to repay them as he struggles to simply finish his term.
A former Federal Reserve official took the unusual step of calling on the central bank to help prevent President Trump’s re-election by refraining from taking measures to stimulate the U.S. economy.
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, a nominally non-partisan figure who oversees parliamentary proceedings, was among those disturbed by the Prime Minister’s actions. “However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of prorogation now would be to stop Parliament debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country,” Mr. Bercow said in a statement. “At this time, one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s history, it is vital that our elected Parliament has its say.”
The world’s central bankers are increasingly worried that President Trump’s tactics to reorder global trade are destabilizing economies in ways that they can’t easily fix.
Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother Charles transformed American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes, has died at age 79.
Federal Reserve officials were widely divided at their meeting last month when they decided to cut rates for the first time in a decade, with some arguing for a bigger rate cut while others insisted the Fed should not cut rates at all.
Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) and Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N) from handing the financial records of the president’s family and the Trump Organization to Democratic lawmakers.
As top central bankers meet at their annual conference at Jackson Hole, Wyo., this week, they will look to political leaders who are convening in Biarritz, France, for the Group of 7 meeting to help keep the world’s prosperity going, Jeanna Smialek of the NYT writes. They might be waiting awhile, though.
The minutes of the July 30-31 discussions released Wednesday show two officials believed the Fed should cut its benchmark policy rate by a half-percentage point, double the quarter-point reduction the central bank eventually agreed upon. On the other end, some Fed officials argued for no rate cut at all, believing that the economy was beginning to improve after a soft patch in the spring.
Bloomberg - Chris Bourke and Michael Heath (2019-08-21)
Australia and New Zealand’s central banks are pondering what until recently seemed unthinkable: deploying the types of extreme monetary policies that were spawned globally by the 2008 global financial crisis. Bond-purchase programs and negative interest rates were for years seen Down Under as the preserve of countries that had gorged on risky derivatives and been reckless with debt. There’s been a sharp change of tune, however. Now, the two central banks are at the forefront of what appears to be a race to the bottom -- where even interest rates at zero may not be far enough.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration was considering potential tax cuts on wages as well as profits from asset sales, and sought to play down market anxieties that the world’s top economy could be heading for a recession.
FT - Adam Samson and Tommy Stubbington (2019-08-19)
Investors are anticipating a fresh wave of stimulus measures to tackle flagging growth, as the White House said it was considering a new round of tax cuts to boost the economy.
From the very start, Mr. Trudeau was poorly served by his own advisers in the PMO and by former Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick. All of them should have known they were playing with fire by seeking to put pressure on Ms. Wilson-Raybould to reconsider her decision not to overturn the Director of Public Prosecutions’ refusal to grant SNC-Lavalin a deferred prosecution agreement that would have spared the Quebec-based engineering giant from facing a trial on fraud and bribery charges.
The Bank of Canada said on Tuesday it plans to buy back up to $500 million worth of bonds from up to nine outstanding issues in a cash management repurchase operation on Aug. 20.
The trade war between the United States and China is heating up again, with U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announcing plans to impose a 10-per-cent tariff on the US$300-billion worth of imports from China that he had so far left untouched. The Chinese authorities then allowed their currency, the renminbi, to fall below the symbolic threshold of seven yuan for every U.S. dollar. The Trump administration promptly responded by naming China a “currency manipulator” – the first time the U.S. had done that to any country in 25 years. Pundits declared a currency war, and investors immediately sent global stock markets lower.
Federal Reserve officials are weighing whether to use a tool known as the countercyclical capital buffer, which could reduce the risk of a credit crunch in a downturn.
Canada’s Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contravened a section of the Conflict of Interest Act by using his position of authority over then-justice-minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to get her to overrule the director of public prosecution’s decision to not negotiate a deal with SNC-Lavalin that would avoid criminal prosecution.
China’s yuan is at an appropriate level currently and two-way fluctuations in the currency will not necessarily cause disorderly capital flows, a senior official at the People’s Bank of China told Reuters on Tuesday.
Federal agencies, banks and investment firms are pushing Wall Street to install their preferred replacement for the London interbank offered rate, the interest-rate benchmark underpinning trillions of dollars in financial contracts.
Expectations are mounting the Bank of Canada will be forced to cut interest rates and join a growing number of central banks that have eased monetary policy as the U.S.-China trade war intensifies and recession signals ripple through financial markets.
The Bank of Japan may seek to prevent unwelcome yen rises by tolerating temporary, market-driven falls in long-term interest rates, former BOJ board member Sayuri Shirai said on Friday.
As pro-democracy protests hit central Moscow this summer, student vlogger Egor Zhukov promoted peaceful resistance to his 100,000 followers on YouTube. Violent clashes on the city’s streets — which have seen armour-clad, helmeted riot police pin down unarmed protesters on stone pavements as their colleagues beat their knees with batons — showed Russia’s security services doling out “political repression”, he said. “Life is a struggle for power,” Mr Zhukov said in a video uploaded last week. “People with no power are fighting to have any at all. People who have any power are fighting for it to be absolute.”
The Federal Reserve can try to be coy about the chance of an interest-rate cut at the September meeting, but that train has already left the station. Stuck in a negative feedback loop with President Donald Trump and financial market participants, while simultaneously under pressure amid falling global interest rates, policy makers will find themselves left with few options but to further ease short-term rates.
A US appeals court has bolstered the power of federal prosecutors to grab records from foreign banks even if the transactions at issue did not pass through US accounts. In a ruling released on Tuesday, three appeals court judges in Washington sided with the Department of Justice against a trio of Chinese banks, including one that had received a subpoena under the Patriot Act.
The departing Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive has backed Bank of England warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, saying that leaving the EU without an agreement would cause some medium-term “pain and anguish”.
G&M - ANDREW GALBRAITH AND WINNI ZHOU (2019-08-05)
The U.S. government has determined that China is manipulating its currency and will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition from Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement on Monday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Monday it planned to develop its own round-the-clock real-time payments and settlement service, with an expected launch in 2023 or 2024.
Not all Fed policymakers agreed to the cuts. Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed and Esther George of the Kansas City Fed voted against yesterday’s decision, the second and third dissents of Mr. Powell’s tenure. They preferred to leave rates unchanged, saying that the U.S. economy remains strong.
WSJ - William Mauldin, Nick Timiraos and Paul Kiernan (2019-08-05)
The U.S. Treasury labeled China a currency manipulator after the Chinese central bank let the yuan depreciate, capping a day of trade-war escalations that sparked a global fall in financial markets and fears the clash could stall the U.S.’s economic expansion.
In a series of tweets, Trump said he will slap 10% tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports starting Sept. 1, saying he was unsatisfied with the pace of trade negotiations between the two superpowers.
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008, marking the start of a new phase in monetary policy.
By deciding to cut interest rates, the Federal Reserve has positioned itself as a shield, protecting the U.S. economy from its own government’s worst instincts. But it may have also set itself up to be President Donald Trump’s enabler.
The Bank of Canada sent signals earlier this month that the Canadian economy is very much on its own path and, at least in the short term, has no reason to follow any move by the Fed to lower rates.
When Federal Reserve policy makers gather in Washington this week to weigh cutting interest rates, a big part of their decision will already have been made—in Frankfurt.
Will the People’s Bank of China follow the Federal Reserve and cut interest rates on Wednesday? Actually, it has found a stealthy way to do that already.
Japan’s central bank said it wouldn’t hesitate to ease monetary policy further should the need arise, an attempt to keep pace with other major central banks that are preparing to cut rates.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates this week, but a big question is whether markets will be satisfied with what the U.S. central bank does and says.
U.S. central bankers are expected to lower borrowing costs this week for the first time since the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. That’s the easy part.
Borrowing by the federal government is set to top $1 trillion for the second year in a row as higher spending outpaces revenue growth and concern about budget deficits wanes in Washington and on Wall Street.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is poised to deliver an interest rate cut this week to safeguard a strong U.S. economy against rising trade-war risks – a move that will heighten questions about whether Canada’s central bank will follow suit to address its own trade worries.
The United States Federal Reserve has some reasons to cut interest rates at its July 31 meeting, or subsequently if the U.S. economy weakens. (There is also a case for holding rates steady, if growth remains as strong as it has been over the past year.) But one argument for easing is less persuasive: a perceived imperative to get U.S. inflation up to or above 2 per cent.
Former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she endorses a quarter-percentage-point cut in the central bank’s benchmark interest rate this week because of worries over global growth and low inflation.
The ECB's rate-setting board left its key interest benchmarks unchanged at a policy meeting Thursday but said it could cut them as its next move. It also said it was telling staff to study ways to restart its bond-buying stimulus program in coming weeks.
The European Central Bank signaled it is preparing to cut short-term interest rates for the first time since early 2016 and possibly restart its giant bond-buying program.
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane sought to push back against market bets that the central bank’s next move will be an interest-rate cut, saying he would resist lowering borrowing costs unless there was a sharp downturn.
European Central Bank officials are preparing to step up with fresh stimulus, echoing similar signals by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. The question for investors is, when, and how, will the ECB act?
The ECB has convinced financial markets that it will act. The question is, among its grab bag of possible moves, will it do more than investors expect?
The Boris Johnson era gets under way Wednesday as the colourful politician becomes Britain’s prime minister and faces the daunting challenge of pulling the country out of the European Union in just three months.
he Quebec government is adding its voice to those pressing SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. to execute a quick turnaround, saying the work needed to set the company back on course is “enormous.”
The Justice Department is opening a broad antitrust review into whether dominant technology firms are unlawfully stifling competition, adding a new Washington threat for companies such as Facebook Inc., Google, Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.
Central-government officials were quick to respond. A statement on the office’s website said the slogans “insulted the country and its people” and accused the demonstrators of going “well beyond the scope of peaceful protest”. It said they had “seriously challenged the central government’s authority” as well as tested the “bottom line” of what China calls the “one country, two systems” arrangement under which it has ruled Hong Kong since Britain handed the territory back in 1997.
For the next few months or so, some of us here at the Financial Post will be filing dispatches from the trade wars, which arrived in Canada on the last day of May 2018, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned U.S. President Donald Trump’s fire with a volley of retaliatory tariffs on imports worth about $17 billion.
The White House has struck a two-year deal with Democratic party leaders in Congress to raise America’s $22tn borrowing limit, removing the threat of a US debt default and significantly raising federal spending.
The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation — the core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy — is running at 1.7 per cent year-on-year compared with the central bank’s target of 2 per cent — and inflation expectations have also weakened.
In sum, powerful forces are working to keep the supply of savings high and the demand for funds to invest low. The net result has been and will continue to be low nominal and real (inflation-corrected) interest rates.
The U.K. government named a new chief executive for the Financial Reporting Council, a move that comes as the audit and accounting watchdog prepares for a wide-ranging overhaul amid concerns about its effectiveness.
The career of the next European Central Bank chief shows the institution is getting a diplomat and negotiator, not a technocrat or economist. “She is extremely charming and that is part of her style of politics.”
Central banks in Asia and South Africa lowered their interest rates, joining a global easing bandwagon that started earlier this year in the Asia-Pacific region and is expected to include the U.S. and Europe within weeks.
G7 finance ministers and the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday all added to the chorus of concerned voices about Facebook's new cyrptocurrency.
France wants to use its presidency of the two-day meeting in the picturesque chateau town of Chantilly north of Paris to get broad support for ensuring minimum corporate taxation. Facebook's recent announcement of plans to launch a digital coin has met with a chorus from regulators, central bankers and governments insisting it must respect anti-money-laundering rules and ensure the security of transactions and user data.
Australia’s prudential regulator will gain new powers to prevent “inappropriate” directors and senior executives being appointed, the federal government has promised.
Debt owed by governments, companies, financial institutions and households across developing economies soared to US$69.1 trillion or 216 per cent of gross domestic product from US$68.9 trillion a year earlier. Debt-to-GDP ratios had risen at the fastest pace in Chile, Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan and China over the past year, the IIF found.
She doesn’t have the typical résumé — no doctorate in economics, no post as a central banker — for running the body that sets monetary policy for one-fifth of the global economy. But investors are betting that Christine Lagarde, the surprise nominee to be the next president of the European Central Bank, will act in much the same way as the bank’s last leader.
The Bank of Canada will take over as administrator of a key interest-rate benchmark that is undergoing an overhaul as part of global reforms to benchmarks, some of which have been vulnerable to manipulation.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers said on Tuesday that Facebook Inc’s history of what they described as untrustworthiness should stand in the way of it launching a digital currency, labelling the plan “delusional” and “crazy” at a Senate hearing.
G&M - STEVE AMBLER AND JEREMY KRONICK (2019-07-15)
The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate constant at 1.75 per cent this week. Markets had completely priced this in, but nevertheless, there are reasons to be surprised by this decision, and perhaps even consider it a missed opportunity.
But as global trade threats linger, Canada's top central bankers warn that many people who should know better, including stock market investors, seem to think cuts to interest rates can solve all problems.
The World Bank has ordered Pakistan to pay Barrick Gold Corp. and Chile’s Antofagasta PLC US$5.8-billion in damages stemming from a long-running international arbitration dispute over mine rights for a massive copper gold project.
U.S. policies that force governments to buy certain products from American factories are harming Bombardier Inc.’s railcar factories in Canada, the company says.
RBC, a primary dealer of British government bonds, said in a research note to clients that the BoE will soon have to ditch its main message that rates will need to rise at some point — even if Brexit goes smoothly.
Guilbeault in 1993 helped found a major environmental advocacy group in Quebec called Equiterre. The activist also worked for Greenpeace for ten years before returning to Equiterre as its director and spokesman in 2007.
FT - Adam SamsonMamta Badkar and Matthew Rocco,and Siddarth Shrikanth (2019-07-11)
The Nasdaq Composite, which rose 0.8 per cent, set a new closing high while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which finished up 0.3 per cent, touched a fresh intraday record during the session.
Australia’s prudential regulator has ordered three of the nation’s largest banks to increase their capital holdings after finding weaknesses in risk management akin to those at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday looks set to raise its second-quarter economic growth forecast and stand pat on interest rates, taking a different tack from some major peers, which are signaling plans for additional stimulus.
The Federal Reserve’s meeting this month was never going to be an easy one given that officials remain split over when — or whether — to cut interest rates. The last few weeks could set the Fed up for an even more difficult call.
The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday and avoided signalling its plans, even as its U.S. counterpart set the stage for a rate cut as soon as this month.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that "many" Fed officials believe a weakening global economy and rising trade tensions have strengthened the case for looser interest-rate policies.
A confidence shock driven partly by the U.S. trade war is at the center of an increasingly persuasive argument for Federal Reserve policymakers seriously considering cutting rates for the first time in a decade
“The United States is very concerned that the digital services tax which is expected to pass the French Senate tomorrow unfairly targets American companies,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement announcing the investigation.
In one of the great contrarian investments of our time, billionaires such as Murray Edwards and Li Ka-Shing are pouring money into Alberta’s oil sands.
Federal Reserve officials worry that the uncertainty caused by the trade war between the United States and China could be constraining business spending and may be contributing to a manufacturing slowdown that is dragging on growth.
There is a reductionist economic interpretation of Canadian confederation that says it was all about the British colonies of northern North America getting together so they could borrow more effectively in London’s capital market. Though an economist, I’m not an economics reductionist so I don’t entirely buy that story. Many things motivate people besides more-efficient borrowing.
The “quality” of Canadian jobs is eroding as increases in low- and mid-pay employment far outstrips that of higher-paying positions, CIBC World Markets says.
The Bank of Canada will diverge from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s expected policy easing path and keep interest rates on hold at least through this year, according to economists in a Reuters poll who said however that the risk of a recession has risen.
In a letter to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, democrats on the House Financial Services Committee demanded an immediate moratorium on the implementation of Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency and digital wallet, Libra and Calibra..
Facebook and some of its corporate allies have decided that what the world really needs is another cryptocurrency – and that launching one is the best way to use the vast talents at their disposal. The fact that Facebook thinks so reveals much about what is wrong with 21st-century American capitalism.
U.S. President Donald Trump pressed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the cases of two Canadians detained by China in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Chinese telecom executive on an American arrest warrant, Canadian sources say.
In December 2015, the Crown filed a series of charges against Wang and Cui, accusing the married couple of receiving payments from Chinese nationals seeking permanent residency in Canada in exchange for securing them job-offer letters, often for positions that didn't actually exist.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has emerged as a leading candidate to take over as head of the International Monetary Fund, one of the most important positions in the global economy.
China’s government strongly backed Hong Kong’s beleaguered administration on Tuesday, saying pro-democracy protesters who occupied and vandalized the city’s legislature committed “serious illegal acts” that endangered the social order.
An Indigenous-led group plans to offer to buy a majority stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline from the Canadian government this week or next, a deal that could help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mitigate election-year criticism from environmentalists.
A federal review of Export Development Canada has exposed serious shortcomings at the Crown corporation, noting its disclosure practices fall far short of other financial institutions, and that the agency is not legally obligated to consider the environmental or human-rights impact of the financial support it provides to exporters.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates for the second time in as many months, moving to bolster the resource-rich economy against an increasingly murky global outlook, and drive faster job creation locally.
Mario Draghi is teeing up some of the boldest policy moves of his eight-year term as European Central Bank president only four months before he steps down, potentially binding the hands of his successor for years.
CBC - Peter Zimonjic, Hannah Thibedeau (2019-06-26)
A Canadian government official, who spoke to CBC News on the condition they not be named, confirmed the CFIA notified its Chinese counterparts it had uncovered faked veterinary certificates for some Canadian meat products.
Pundit Stephen Moore didn’t get onto the Federal Reserve Board, but he has joined a “decentralized central bank” that hopes to tame cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The Reserve Bank of India’s deputy governor stepped down on Monday, reigniting a debate on the independence of monetary policy in the world’s biggest democracy.
Judith Robertson was named on Tuesday as the next commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, a job that has been vacant after the term of the organization’s previous leader expired earlier this month.
Three large Chinese banks could lose their access to the U.S. financial system after a judge found them in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a probe into violation of North Korean sanctions, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
But Matt Stoller, a former financial policy advisor to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, says this move would take the company out of the business world and into the realm of a sovereign nation.
Each time the price of gold poked its head above a technical level of US$1,350 an ounce, speculators would immediately take profits and slam it back down, he said. The last three times prices hovered above that level in intraday trading, they couldn’t hold it until close.
BNN Bloomberg asked economists and analysts whether the Bank of Canada can afford to not follow the Fed if it indeed cuts rates. Here’s what they had to say.
This report is a scorecard I designed in order to rank the performance of the current Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau. I do regular rankings because, otherwise, I cannot measure the performance in a meaningful way. The scoring is based on a variety of metrics as detailed on the ‘score-table’ on page 3.
The chief executive of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) has overseen a transformation of the Crown corporation since 2014, shifting CMHC’s focus from its long-time role as Canada’s largest mortgage insurer to a new role as the front-line administrator of the Liberal government’s National Housing Strategy, a program of loans and grants to fund housing for vulnerable groups.
“There are too many reasons to be gloomy about the Canadian dollar to forecast a sharp appreciation, and our forecast essentially looks for it to underperform others as the U.S. dollar finally corrects in the face of a slowing economy.”
Mr. Juckes, global fixed income strategist, projected the loonie would be at slightly over 75 US cents by December, just shy of 76 by next March, and almost 77 by June, 2020.
A law that would force Hong Kong courts to send people charged with crimes under Chinese law to mainland China to face penalties has the two groups worried for different reasons, and this time business is weighing in. And it appears at least some factions within the Chinese political establishment are listening, even as Beijing blames the forces of foreign capitalism for instigating the massive protests.
Like it or not, the Fed is the world’s central bank. Thus, it is now signaling it will likely cut rates in coming months, not because the U.S. is headed into recession, but because shadows are growing over the rest of the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump is vowing to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on Canada’s behalf over Beijing’s detention of two Canadians in apparent retaliation for Ottawa’s arrest of a Chinese telecom executive.
China will block pork imports from a third Canadian firm after a shipment was found to contain the banned feed additive ractopamine, the customs agency said on Tuesday, deepening a trade and diplomatic dispute with Canada.
In the rally currently roaring through the global bond market, Japan is being left behind, exposing the key flaws in its unique monetary policy platform.
In Djibouti, two superpowers have built heavily guarded bases only a few kilometres apart, watching the crossroads between Asia, Africa and the Middle East in an increasingly tense standoff for global supremacy. What could possibly go wrong?
Ottawa looks set to approve a hotly debated plan to expand an oil pipeline this week, people familiar with the process told Reuters, but the move is unlikely to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rebuild flagging support ahead of an October election.
The scenes are reminiscent of 2003 - when half a million people protested against proposed national security legislation. The unpopular chief executive at the time, Tung Chee-hwa, resigned months later. Critics have said the legislation would expose people in Hong Kong to China's deeply flawed justice system and lead to further erosion of the city's judicial independence.
Sometimes the Fed cuts rates as a form of insurance, because the risk of bad things happening has gone up: For parallels to questions the Fed faces, analysts point to two rate cuts from the 1990s.
Markets are sending conflicting signals about how big a threat the global trade rift presents, underscoring the difficulty investors face in sizing up the fallout from the U.S. and China’s spat.
They want it known they’re basing their decisions on sound economics rather than political considerations. They wish not to be pushed around by what traders in financial markets and cable news pundits want. Or even by the president of the United States.
Iran said it would exceed limits on its enriched-uranium stockpiles before the end of this month, as the U.S. said it would send an additional 1,000 troops to the Mideast in response to “hostile behavior” by Tehran.
Chinese regulators made fresh attempts to calm frayed nerves in the country’s financial sector, as bank liquidity remained tight by some measures three weeks after authorities took over a struggling city lender.
It is no surprise that of all the former governors of the Bank of Canada, only John Crow had the gravitas and legacy to write a book about his tenure. By comparison, the current governor, Stephen Poloz, whose seven-year term has just entered its final year, barely has accomplishments, never mind a legacy. That is, unless one counts a track record of subpar growth, two near-recessions, monumental bubbles in Canada’s two largest housing markets and a substantial devaluation of the currency. But he did put the face of a female civil-rights activist on the $10 bill.
Protesters crowded onto the streets of downtown Hong Kong Wednesday morning, installing barriers on roads and snarling traffic as they prepared for a day of action to protest a bill that would make it easier for authorities in China to extradite people from the city.
G&M - MATTHEW MCCLEARN, GEOFFREY YORK (2019-06-11)
In Latin America, billions of dollars in Canadian government-backed loans have been funnelled to two of the region’s most notorious oil companies: the state-owned petroleum corporations of Mexico and Brazil, each riddled with frequent reports of bribery, bid-rigging and inflated contracts.
President Trump said that the Federal Reserve has given China a competitive advantage over the U.S. with its monetary policy, adding that it is clear some officials haven’t listened to his advice to cut interest rates.
Hong Kong geared for more protests, including strikes, transport go-slows and even picnics, against a proposed extradition law that would allow people to be sent to China for trial, even as the city’s leader vowed on Tuesday to push ahead with the bill.
Spend big and never mind the deficit. That’s what proponents of modern monetary theory, the unorthodox set of economic ideas that has inspired politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, see as the winning formula for American prosperity.
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With rates increasing more or less across commercial lines, many organizations are considering higher self-insured retention (SIR) or higher deductibles in order to manage their soaring premium costs.
The CMAJ (Vol. 191, Issue 48) gives a detailed report of a Canadian teenager who “developed a unique pattern of severe respiratory illness” which was rather like “severe, acute bronchiolitis” after vaping daily for five months. The condition was described by the teen’s doctors as very similar to “popcorn lung” – a rare lung disease previously seen in workers in the early 2000s who were exposed to the chemical flavouring diacetyl as they packaged microwave popcorn.
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