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.
G&M - Tim Kiladze (2019-11-19)
Aimia Inc.’s blue-chip board is putting a bitter feud with two groups of American investors to rest by agreeing to a settlement that will see six directors step down and counter lawsuits from both groups dismissed.
G&M - Stefanie Marotta (2019-11-19)
Investment products that focus on companies with women in leadership have been slow to garner interest, even amid a growing body of research showing companies with more female leaders tend to be stronger performers.
G&M - Howard Schneider (2019-11-19)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-11-19)
The newly released figures also revealed a valuation for the company that's between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion, a figure that fell short of the $2 trillion mark Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had sought.
FP - Farah Omran and Jeremy Kronick (2019-11-19)
Surprisingly, however, the financial services sector’s contribution to overall productivity growth is underwhelming. Using the OECD measure of industry contribution to productivity, from 2001-2017, we rank behind countries we are often compared with, such as Australia, Norway and Sweden. How can we turn this around?
FP - Jonathan Stempel (2019-11-19)
Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli will remain in prison after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected his effort to overturn his conviction and seven-year sentence for securities fraud and conspiracy.
FP - Geoff Zochodne (2019-11-19)
A social network for baby boomers and a China-focused marketing tool are among the outside-the-box ideas that Canada’s largest bank hopes will bring it new customers in an increasingly tech-centric world.
Bloomberg - Chris Fournier and Erik Hertzberg (2019-11-19)
A surge in late payments is raising eyebrows in Canada.
FT - Martin Arnold (2019-11-19)
The figures, revealed in a survey by the German central bank, give one of the clearest indications of how many lenders are charging customers to deposit money since the European Central Bank cut interest rates deeper into negative territory in mid-September. The Bundesbank surveyed 220 lenders at the end of September — two weeks after the ECB’s cut its deposit rate from minus 0.4 to a record low of minus 0.5 per cent. In response, 58 per cent of the banks said they were levying negative rates on some corporate deposits and 23 per cent said they were doing the same for retail depositors.
FT - Eric Platt (2019-11-19)
Private equity owner TA Associates has hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of Russell Investments, putting the $293bn asset manager on the block as part of a wave of consolidation in the fund management industry, according to people briefed on the matter.
FT - John Plender (2019-11-19)
To say there has been no deglobalisation in financial markets risks oversimplification. According to a study by McKinsey Global Institute, global cross-border capital flows shrank from a peak before the financial crisis of $12.4tn in 2007 to $4.3tn in 2016.
G&M - Eric Atkins (2019-11-19)
“We’re on strike,” said Christopher Monette, a spokesman for the Teamsters.
G&M - Ian McGugan (2019-11-19)
Mr. Rosenberg won a reputation for prescience by being one of the first to warn of the dangers in the U.S. housing market in the years leading up to the financial crisis. At the time he was working as chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch, and splitting his time between his hometown of Toronto and New York.
G&M - Rob Carrick (2019-11-19)
We all know that cash is slowly fading in popularity – just watch the people in front of you at the grocery or drugstore checkout line. The clear favourite cash replacement? Credit cards.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-11-19)
Bloated global debts could feed a “perfect storm” of financial risk in the event of a trade-war-induced global economic slump, making the downturn “deeper than usual and fraught with financial stresses,” Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said.
G&M - Shane Dingman (2019-11-19)
An Ontario tribunal has upheld Toronto regulations on short-term rentals that will restrict the most prolific hosts on Airbnb and other home-sharing services.
G&M - Mohamed A. El-Erain (2019-11-19)
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.
G&M - Mohamed A. El-Erain (2019-11-19)
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.
G&M - David Lawder (2019-11-19)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-11-19)
The Fed said in a statement that Powell's message to Trump during their meeting was similar to the one he expressed in congressional testimony last week, when he said that the economy is in good shape and that the Fed would likely suspend its rate cuts for now. The central bank has cut its benchmark short-term rate three times this year to try to support the economy.
FP - Barbara Shecter (2019-11-19)
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.
FP - Doug Alexander (2019-11-19)
“They seem to be a day late and a dollar short,” said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer of Baskin Wealth Management, who has avoided investing in CIBC. “They seem to be swinging past the fastballs and missing the easy layups that the other banks get right.”
Insurance Business - Alicja Grzadkowska (2019-11-19)
“We are currently in a hard market in commercial lines in Canada. Premiums are increasing a lot and I think this is an opportunity for brokers to educate clients about loss mitigation issues. I think they can help clients look and realize the peril they're in,” explained Lessard. “They also have a role to make sure that carriers are recognizing the effort made by the clients on the loss mitigation aspect.”
Insurance Business - Ryan Smith (2019-11-19)
American International Group (AIG) has announced the appointment of Allison Barrett as global head of multinational, General Insurance. Barrett will join the company Dec. 09 and will report to Michael Price, head of global service businesses and global chief operating officer for General Insurance.
Canadian Underwriter - CP (2019-11-19)
“It also means that an economic downturn could be deeper than usual and fraught with financial stresses,” she said.
Better Dwelling (2019-11-19)
The growth rate is very high, and this is also a new record. The 12-month growth is the highest for October since 2011. The number of sales reported for the month is also the highest since 2007. Some of this is delayed demand from last year’s weak numbers, but it’s still a very large month.
G&M - Matt Lundy (2019-11-18)
Canadians are saving much less than they used to, the result of a long-term shift in incentives that has favoured borrowers over savers and seen households pile on billions of dollars in mortgage debt to build wealth.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-18)
Canada is oh-so-close to a sellers’ market in housing again, as prices rise at their fastest pace since the “go-go days.”
G&M - TEGAN HILL, JAKE FUSS AND JASON CLEMENS (2019-11-18)
During last month’s federal election campaign, many in the media – and in the Liberal Party – lauded the strength of Canada’s economy.
CBC - Erica Johnson (2019-11-18)
A Calgary retiree says he was "sick to his stomach" after learning his bank wired more than $800,000 of his savings to fraudsters despite security red flags.
FP - Geoff Zachodine (2019-11-18)
Toronto-based Questrade intends to file an application to the federal government for a legal instrument, known as letters patent, that would incorporate “Quest Bank,” the Nov. 16 Canada Gazette notice states.
Reuters - Reuters (2019-11-18)
The case relates to spoofing, which involves placing bids to buy or offers to sell contracts with the intent to cancel them before execution, allowing spoofers to influence prices. In recent years there has a been a surge in spoofing related prosecutions in the United States by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
NY Times - NY Times (2019-11-18)
WSJ - Juliet Chung and Leslie Scism (2019-11-18)
Several wealthy families and investment firms have received an early $700 million payout from a once-troubled unit of Hartford Financial Services that has enjoyed a turnaround since the financial crisis.
WSJ - Stella Yifan Xie (2019-11-18)
For years, popular stops in Hong Kong for mainland Chinese tourists have included the iconic Victoria Peak, the family-friendly Disneyland—and the humdrum offices of some of the city’s big insurance companies. As protests rage on, sharp drops in visitor arrivals have dented a lucrative sales channel for large life insurers.
WSJ - Stella Yifan Xie (2019-11-18)
Problems with funding, lending and management are emerging after years of rapid growth. Here’s how China’s banking system works—and what’s going wrong.
WSJ - Andrew Ackerman (2019-11-18)
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.
G&M - Tamsin McMahon (2019-11-15)
Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the global economy in ways that central banks are still struggling to understand, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said Thursday. That rapid change can be difficult to capture in officials measures of the economy, he noted, and ends up sending conflicting signals that complicate monetary policy decisions.
G&M - Alexandra Posadzki (2019-11-15)
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.
G&M - Patrick Brethour (2019-11-15)
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.
Better Dwelling - Daniel Wong (2019-11-15)
To contrast, condo apartment prices are slowing down more recently – but made a huge climb. Condo apartment prices fell 0.18% in Q3 2019, but are up 2.11% from the same quarter last year. From the start of the index in Q1 2017, prices are up a surreal 18.89% at the end of Q3 2019. Once again, the increase for condo apartment prices is over 3x the size of houses.
WSJ - PAUL J. DAVIES (2019-11-15)
German electronic-payments company Wirecard AG was in a sticky spot back in April. Its share price was under pressure after allegations about its accounting practices in Asia—strongly denied by Wirecard—prompted a police investigation in Singapore.
G&M - David Berman (2019-11-14)
Home Capital Group Inc.'s comeback went into high gear as a rebounding housing market and lower funding costs sent its earnings soaring just two years after the company plunged into financial crisis.
G&M - James Bradshaw (2019-11-14)
Mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc. has priced its first offering of residential mortgage-backed securities, potentially marking an important step toward creating a viable private market for investing in pools of Canadian mortgages.
G&M - SUSAN KRASHINSKY ROBERTSON (2019-11-14)
Competition in the discount grocery sector intensified in the summer and early fall, weighing on prices as Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and other retailers battle to hold on to bargain-hunting customers and attract new ones.
G&M - Clare O'Hara (2019-11-14)
Canadian insurer Manulife Financial Corp. has reached a deal with the Toronto Transit Commission to settle a long-running case involving a multimillion-dollar benefits scam that involved more than 200 TTC employees.
G&M - Reuters (2019-11-14)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-14)
Insolvencies come in two forms: The first are traditional bankruptcies, and the second are so-called proposals, which involve consumers restructuring the terms of their debts with lenders.
CBC - CBC (2019-11-14)
As it turns out, there are companies out there gathering private information about you to assign you a consumer score based on your "predicted behaviour," said Laura Antonini, a policy director at the Consumer Education Foundation in California.
FP - Geoff Zachodine (2019-11-14)
For example, during the spring of 2017, he said, “rumours” spread on social media helped cause a run on deposits and the near-failure of “a mid-sized Canadian bank.”
FP - Paresh Dave and Munsif Vengattil (2019-11-14)
The project, named Cache, comes as rivals Facebook Inc and Apple Inc are expanding their own efforts in consumer finance, a broad area that ranges from digital payment apps to bank accounts, brokerage accounts and loans, and which offer Silicon Valley new sources of revenue and new opportunities to strengthen ties with users.
Reuters - Kirstin Ridley (2019-11-14)
A former top Citigroup (C.N) trader, who was fired in 2014 but acquitted of foreign exchange-rigging charges after a trial in New York, told a London employment tribunal he was unfairly dismissed despite being in the “eye of the storm” at the time.
Bloomberg - Divya Balji and Shelly Hagan (2019-11-14)
Bloomberg - Michael McDonald (2019-11-14)
Bloomberg - Niclas Rolander (2019-11-14)
NY Times - Stacy Cowley and Tara Siegel Bernard (2019-11-14)
Insurance Business - Ryan Smith (2019-11-14)
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (SRCS) has announced the appointment of Loredana Mazzoleni Neglén (pictured) as head of customer experience and global sales steering, effective February 01. In the newly created role, Mazzoleni Neglén will be responsible for supporting SRCS in better understanding customer needs and delivering a better customer experience. She will report to CEO Andreas Berger.
Insurance Business - Lyle Adriano (2019-11-14)
A new report by Willis Towers Watson has suggested that buyers of commercial insurance in North America will encounter sizable price increases across most lines of insurance in 2020.
Canadian Underwriter - Greg Meckbach (2019-11-14)
Insurers tend to have data on the claims history of commercial property, and they supplement that data with information from municipalities, said Michael Loeters, senior vice president for commercial insurance and risk management at Prolink. Moreover, the insurers are updating that with new climate data and this gives them better data – such as areas of the city that are more prone to sewer backup.
OSFI - OSFI (2019-11-14)
While broadly supportive of the goals of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) did not support the ICS design proposed for a five-year monitoring period at the Executive Committee Meeting of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Insurance Business - Alicja Grzadkowska (2019-11-14)
With total worldwide funding commitments in the insurtech sector in 2019 officially surpassing the total for 2018, according to Willis Towers Watson’s latest insurtech briefing, it’s no surprise to see many insurers taking part in the flurry of investments, rounding out their own capabilities with those that start-ups are introducing to the insurance marketplace.
G&M - David Milstead (2019-11-14)
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the largest shareholder of TMX Group Inc., has sold its entire 9.3-per-cent stake in the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
G&M - Sean Silcoff (2019-11-14)
Silicon Valley venture capital giant Accel has made the largest single investment in its history, leading a US$200-million funding for the Toronto company behind a popular password management software product.
G&M - Clare O'Hara (2019-11-14)
Canadian investment companies will be required to report cybersecurity attacks within days of an occurrence, allowing the industry regulator to alert other brokerages of risks.
G&M - Video (2019-11-14)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is asking Congress to tackle the growing budget deficit.
FP - Geoff Zochodne (2019-11-14)
That community, it adds, is already made up of “thousands” of registered members, “hundreds” of whom have gone to the creative workshops and meet-ups it has hosted in Toronto. (An upcoming event about paper flowers costs $20.)
Reuters - Scott Murdoch (2019-11-14)
Alibaba Group Chairman Daniel Zhang said Hong Kong’s “future is bright” as the ecommerce giant kicked off the retail campaign for its secondary listing in the city gripped by increasingly violent protests and recession.
BNN - Erik Hertzberg (2019-11-14)
Justin Trudeau is starting his second term in worse fiscal shape than expected, meaning Canada’s finances will likely be pushed further into the red.
G&M - Andrew Willis (2019-11-12)
Canada’s bank-owned investment dealers will cut bonus cheques to employees in the next few weeks.
FT - Olaf Storbeck, Laura Noonan (2019-11-12)
The desire for regime change has hardened since Deutsche abandoned merger talks with Commerzbank in April, these people said, scuppering the plans of Cerberus, which is Deutsche’s third-largest shareholder with a 3 per cent stake and the second-biggest shareholder in Commerzbank. Mr Achleitner endorsed ending the talks. Deutsche Bank’s other big shareholders — two members of the Qatari royal family, funds managed by former JPMorgan Chase executive Doug Braunstein and asset manager BlackRock — also have an increasingly negative view of Mr Achleitner’s performance, according to people familiar with their views, which have been expressed in informal talks between the top investors.
FT - Stefan Wagstyl (2019-11-12)
Wealthy investors are hoarding ever-larger cash piles in a sign of widespread concern about global political and economic uncertainty, according to a survey published on Tuesday by UBS, the Swiss bank. The rich individuals polled around the world are holding 27 per cent of their investable assets in cash, up from 26 per cent in a similar study released three months ago. Sixty per cent of those surveyed would consider further increases in their cash levels, underlining the bleak view they are taking of the international outlook, including the US-China trade war, conflict in the Middle East and the potential effects of Brexit.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-12)
The YES Fintech Developer platform is paired with a secure virtual sandbox to test, train and develop apps integrated with bank APIs across four usage categories including account management, payments, cards and CRM.
FT - Martin Arnold (2019-11-12)
Italian banks have rushed to borrow more in order to take advantage of a change in the European Central Bank’s interest rate policy, according to the country’s central bank.
American Banker - AB (2019-11-12)
JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren's rhetoric sounds like an attack on wealthier Americans.
Digital Transactions - John Steward (2019-11-12)
As peer-to-peer payments services like Cash App, Venmo, and Zelle grow in popularity in the United States, some observers fret that underserved populations are being left behind. PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Xoom money-transfer service said Tuesday it’s attacking that issue in a collaboration with Walmart Inc. and Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s Ria remittance platform. The three-way collaboration will allow domestic Xoom users for the first time to send cash to recipients living in the United States.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-12)
In April, a senior executive at Deutsche Bundesbank called on the banking sector to develop a pan-European mobile payments platform capable of competing with systems from Big Tech giants from the US and China.
G&M - Sean Silcoff (2019-11-12)
Michael Sabia is stepping down from his post as chief executive officer of Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec after a decade at the helm, leaving an institution once marred by crisis on stable footing but with several looming challenges.
CBC - Reuters (2019-11-12)
Facebook said on Tuesday it was launching Facebook Pay, a service that will help consolidate payments tools across its social media platforms including Whatsapp and Instagram.
Bloomberg - Natalie Obiko Pearson (2019-11-12)
Bloomberg - Doug Alexander (2019-11-12)
Bloomberg - Tim Duy (2019-11-12)
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-11-12)
The New York Fed added $111.909 billion to financial markets on Tuesday.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-11-12)
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.
WSJ - Rochelle Toplensky (2019-11-12)
Share buybacks worth a total of $4 billion offer a rare reason to get excited about Europe’s beleaguered banking sector right now. Investors should enjoy the boost while it lasts.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-11)
The American Bankers Association and credit union groups are among those offering their support for the Federal Reserve Board's plans to build a new round-the-clock real-time payment and settlement service.
G&M - G&M (2019-11-11)
“At some stage I think it will be likely that there will be a more fully-fledged crackdown,” said Stéphane Barbier de la Serre, a strategist at Makor Capital Markets.
G&M - Kelly Grant (2019-11-11)
A University of British Columbia study that examined more than 2.8 million prescriptions for 89 medications is the first to reveal the financial impact of the discount cards that pharmaceutical companies began promoting at the start of this decade, when patents expired for a slew of brand-name drugs.
G&M - David Rosenberg (2019-11-11)
I keep hearing from the stock promoters how great the U.S. economy is doing now. Somehow they don’t see that the Atlanta and New York Federal District Bank economic models are down to around 1 per cent for real fourth quarter GDP growth. Despite suggestions in some circles that we are finding a bottom in this global growth downturn, I have news for you. It isn’t happening.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-11-11)
"There was no reason for expecting disaster," wrote Canadian economist John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1954 history of the time, The Great Crash 1929. "A depression, serious or otherwise, could not be foreseen when the market fell."
Bloomberg - Frances Schwartzkopff (2019-11-11)
According to Kasper Lorenzen, the chief investment officer of pension fund PFA in Denmark, we’re essentially living through the negative supply shock that came with the oil crises of the 1970s, but in reverse. Thanks to cheaper imports and better technology, the supply shock is now positive and it’s going to continue shaping monetary policy far into the future, the theory goes.
“This is just a massive, positive supply shock, similar, though with a reverse sign, to the negative supply shock we saw in the 1970s,” he said in an interview.
Back then, “we underestimated how bad returns were and how long it took to get rid of the oil crisis,” he said. “Investors didn’t really make any returns for 12 years over the 70s.” Now, Lorenzen says he thinks “we generally underestimated the effect of this positive supply shock.”
Insurance Business - Lyle Adriano (2019-11-11)
For the third quarter of 2019, the company reported net income available to common shareholders of US$216 million. The net income includes net realized and unrealized investments gains of US$41 million on fixed maturities and short-term investments, mainly due to decreases in worldwide risk-free rates, as well as US$39 million net foreign exchange plans.
Insurance Business - Paul Lucas (2019-11-11)
“We need to make our governance structures as efficient as possible,” Lloyd’s chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said in a statement, as reported by Reuters. He went to state that the new structure “will combine robust and accountable governance with the ability to make swift decisions when necessary.”
CBC - Ross Marowits (2019-11-11)
Canadians have taken advantage of cheap money, with total debt per consumer surging to $71,979 in the second quarter, up from about $57,000 five years earlier, according to credit monitoring service Equifax.
CBC - CBC (2019-11-11)
Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country's south with over 50 billion barrels of crude oil, its president said Sunday, a find that could boost the country's proven reserves by a third as it struggles to sell energy abroad over U.S. sanctions.
FP - Zane Schwartz (2019-11-11)
The trading platform would facilitate the buying and selling of individual digital coins, including Bitcoin and Ether, as well as the transfer of funds combining different types of cryptocurrencies. The bank is also looking into letting customers open bank accounts containing cryptocurrency.
FP - Neil Vigdor (2019-11-11)
“Any algorithm that intentionally or not results in discriminatory treatment of women or any other protected class violates New York law,” an agency spokeswoman said in a statement Saturday night.
Reuters - Iain Withers, Sinead Cruise (2019-11-11)
Britain’s high street lenders are investing billions of pounds in new or refreshed digital services to meet growing customer demand. But they are playing catch-up when it comes to matching the technology of fast-growing startups like Monzo, Starling and Tandem.
Reuters - Josh Horwitz (2019-11-11)
Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s sales for its 24-hour Singles’ Day shopping blitz hit a record $38.4 billion, more than U.S. rival Amazon.com Inc’s haul last quarter from online store sales.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-11)
Surveying 58 global banks and focusing on the governance aspects outlined by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Boston Common states that we are now 12 months before Glasgow hosts COP26 in November 2020, where countries will be encouraged to up the ante on the reduction pledges previously made in Paris in 2015.
G&M - Greg Mcarthur (2019-11-10)
A group of investors has launched a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario government alleging that the provincial regulator responsible for licensing mortgage brokers was negligent in allowing the sale of risky syndicated mortgage investment products marketed by the Tier 1 group of companies.
FP - Paula Sambo (2019-11-10)
“We recognize that when it comes to reputation risk, it doesn’t matter how big or small the investment is,” Deborah Orida, global head of active equities for CPPIB said by telephone Thursday. “For a long time, we’ve tried to incorporate reputational risk assessments into our due diligence process for investments and after that controversy, we did take advantages of new tools and ways to broaden our processes.”
FP - Geoff Zachodine (2019-11-10)
CIBC announced an agreement to sell 66.73 per cent of CIBC FirstCaribbean to GNB Financial Group Ltd. for US$797 million, valuing the company at approximately US$1.195 million, according to a press release.
Reuters - Reuters (2019-11-10)
In a series of Twitter posts starting on Thursday, David Heinemeier Hansson railed against the Apple Card for giving him 20 times the credit limit that his wife got, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
Reuters - Emilio Parodi (2019-11-10)
An Italian court has convicted 13 former bankers from Deutsche Bank, Nomura and Monte dei Paschi di Siena over derivative deals that prosecutors say helped the Tuscan bank hide losses in one of the country’s biggest financial scandals.
Transparency - Max Heywood (2019-11-10)
Case after case shows that banks are a critical link in the flow of illicit money around the world — helping launder dirty money so it can be converted into an extravagant 5th Avenue apartment or a private jet and luxury yacht . All too often, supervisory action only follows the uncovering of a large-scale corruption case by a whistleblower or journalist. It is time for supervisors to get the powers and resources they need to do their jobs, and to be held publicly accountable if they fail to do so.
G&M - Matt Lundy (2019-11-09)
In total, there were close to 12,000 consumer insolvencies filed across the country in September, compared with about 10,000 a year earlier, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy said. Insolvencies are comprised of both bankruptcies and proposals – the latter being an offer to pay back a percentage of money owed, extend the payment timeline, or both.
G&M - Tim Kiladze (2019-11-09)
The latest Canadian rental apartment owner to try going public has scrapped its deal despite heavy investor demand, deciding instead to sell to a private buyer at a premium price.
CBC - CP (2019-11-09)
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts last month slowed to 201,973 units in October compared with 221,135 in September.
CBC - Shannon Martin (2019-11-09)
Customers, with Uber or Airbnb for example, may sometimes agree to be rated. But banks, McNeish says, simply know too much about our private lives.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-08)
Regarding other cases, USAA says it "continues to seek opportunities to create reasonable and mutually beneficial licensing agreements with banks and credit unions"
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-08)
In January, the firm launched Mylo Advantage, a $3/month premium package that includes access to registered accounts, socially responsible investing options, next-day withdrawals and monthly cashback Perks from millennial-friendly brands like Netflix and Foodora.
G&M - Les Perreaux (2019-11-08)
Premier François Legault’s government presented an economic update Thursday featuring a $4-billion surplus for 2019-20 on top of a revised surplus of $8.3-billion for 2018-19. Finance Minister Éric Girard announced that he will boost spending by $857-million and put $6.2-billion from the surpluses into a debt-repayment fund.
G&M - Clare O'Hara (2019-11-08)
CI said Thursday it will add WisdomTree’s 14 Canadian ETFs, which have $958-million in assets, to its current ETF division, which manages about $8.9-billion. The acquired ETFs trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
CBC - CBC (2019-11-08)
It says the narrowing risk comes as home prices ease somewhat, with the average price down 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared with last, while the young-adult population continued to grow at 1.9 per cent to increase the pool of potential first-time homebuyers.
FP - Doug Alexander (2019-11-08)
Sun Life saw underlying profit in Asia surge 25 per cent to $138 million (US$105 million), boosted by higher sales in insurance and wealth, while Manulife’s record $520 million of core earnings for the region was up 13 per cent from a year earlier.
Reuters - Byron Kaye (2019-11-08)
The two banks plus JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) worked on a A$3 billion ($2 billion) stock issue for Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) (ANZ.AX) in 2015. Citi, Deutsche, ANZ and eight of their staff were charged last year with withholding crucial information from shareholders about the sale.
Better Dwelling - Daniel Wong (2019-11-08)
Canadian mortgage lenders lent a lot for new mortgages. Lenders advanced $42.98 billion in funds in August, up 23.52% from last year. Insured mortgages represent $11.09 billion of the total, and is up 12% compared to last year. Uninsured mortgages represent the other $31.89 billion, which is up 28% compared to last year. Both segments made big increases, but uninsured mortgages are growing twice as fast.
G&M - Clare O'Hara (2019-11-07)
Solid growth in Asian markets continues to drive sales at two of Canada’s largest insurers.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-07)
Sales of “uber-luxury” homes are picking up in the Greater Toronto Area.
CBC - Reuters (2019-11-07)
Thirty-seven civilians were killed and more than 60 wounded when gunmen ambushed a convoy transporting workers of Canadian-based gold miner Semafo in eastern Burkina Faso, regional authorities said Wednesday.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-11-07)
Clearly Canadian bank RBC thinks oil still has a big financial future. The bank is one of the underwriters for the launch of Saudi Arabia's giant government oil corporation Saudi Aramco, which is finally going ahead with its sale of shares onto world stock markets.
Insurance Journal - IIJ (2019-11-07)
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that the maximum pensionable earnings for 2020 under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will be increased from $57,400 to $58,700.
Insurance Journal - IIJ (2019-11-07)
Excluding gas prices, consumer prices rose 2.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis in July, August and September. The value of household real estate assets rose in the first and second quarters following declines in the second half of last year, and household net worth rose 1.2 per cent in the second quarter, following a 2.7 gain in the first, as equity markets rebounded from sharp losses suffered in late 2018.
Insurance Journal - IIJ (2019-11-07)
BMO Life Assurance has maintained the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) issued by ratings firm A.M. Best, coupled with a stable outlook.
Insurance Journal - IIJ (2019-11-07)
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario has finalized the membership of six stakeholder advisory committees.
Insurance Journal - IIJ (2019-11-07)
Insurance Journal - Aurelia Morvan (2019-11-07)
Machines that can simulate human intelligence are revolutionizing insurance. To advance in this area, Manulife has signed a partnership with Mila — the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, renowned as a space for innovation in artificial intelligence and technology transfer.
FP - Andy Blatchford (2019-11-07)
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.
G&M - Susan Robertson (2019-11-07)
The company announced the plan, as it reported total net income of $227.7-million, or $3.20 per share, compared with $231.3-million, or $3.15 per share in the same period last year. Revenue from its retail segment fell by 0.4 per cent, while overall revenue was slightly up, to $3.64-billion in the three months ending Sept. 28. The cost-cutting measures were announced as the company also said it would raise its quarterly dividend for the eleventh time in a decade.
G&M - Konrad Yakabuski (2019-11-06)
Almost four years after U.S. home-improvement giant Lowe’s Cos. Inc. swallowed Quebec-based Rona Inc., the dust has yet to settle on the $3.2-billion deal that rocked the province’s hardware retailing sector and led to calls for new measures to block foreign takeovers.
FP - Geoff Zachodine (2019-11-06)
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.
Better Dwelling - Daniel Wong (2019-11-06)
Canadians are paying lower interest rates for borrowing than last year. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows the effective interest rate has fallen as of the first week of November. The rate is lower than last year, but the longer-term movement is still towards higher rates.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-11-06)
Canada’s trade deficit narrowed slightly in September, but falling exports and imports bear the marks of a damaged global trade and investment environment.
G&M - Clare O'Hara (2019-11-06)
Canadian robo-adviser Planswell is closing down after losing a $20-million round of funding from a group of investors that included Sun Life Financial Inc.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-06)
“Generally stronger market activity reduced already low odds of a steep and widespread housing downturn over the next 12 months in Canada. There’s a greater likelihood that the market will heat up.”
FP - Geoff Zochodne (2019-11-06)
Scotiabank announced Friday that it had completed the sale of banking operations in seven “non-core” Caribbean markets — including Anguilla, Dominica and Grenada — to Trinidad and Tobago-based Republic Financial Holdings Ltd. However, when the deal was first announced in November, 2018, it involved operations in nine countries.
FP - Doug Alexander (2019-11-06)
The reductions are across RBC Capital Markets and affect areas including investment banking, equity sales and trading, and research, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the moves haven’t been publicly announced. The cuts represent about 2 per cent of the division’s workforce in the British capital.
Better Dwelling - Kaitlin Last (2019-11-06)
The price of a typical Greater Toronto home made a sharp increase, according to the benchmark. TREB reported a benchmark price of $810,900 in October, up 5.8% from last year. The City of Toronto benchmark reached $897,200, up 6.1% from the same month last year. Both the monthly and 12-month increases were stronger than typical last month.
Reuters - Reuters (2019-11-06)
Malaysia had requested that a trial start in April, as the 10-month period of U.S. custody agreed to by the countries would lapse in March, Deputy Public Prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir told Reuters.
Reuters - Imani Moise (2019-11-06)
“By setting a standard that addresses the concern of hosting highly confidential information, we aim to drive the public cloud to a safety level that is unmatched,” said Cathy Bessant, chief operations and technology officer of Bank of America.
Bloomberg - Scott Deveau and Crystal Tse (2019-11-06)
Bloomberg - Kiuyan Wong (2019-11-06)
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-11-06)
For decades, the central bank has raised rates to guard against coming price increases. Now, it seems to be raising that hurdle.
NY Times - Jim Tankersley (2019-11-06)
The Treasury Department says the Obama-era regulations are unnecessary after the 2017 tax overhaul.
WSJ - Ira Iosebashvili (2019-11-06)
Nervous investors have socked $3.4 trillion away in cash. But stocks are rising and their nerves are calming, leading bulls to view the huge cash pile as a sign that markets have room to go higher.
Finextra - Finextra Video (2019-11-06)
Paula Roels, Head of Market Infrastructure and Industry Initiatives, Cash Management, Deutsche Bank speaks at Sibos about the migration of ISO20022, whether the industry is on track for implementing it for 2021, different approaches we are seeing from banks and how they can make the most of this time from a business perspective.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-06)
With ongoing Brexit discussions and continuous uncertainty, Christoph Tutsch, CEO at ONPEX, discusses at Sibos what impact these events could have on cross-border payments and banking for businesses on both sides of the Channel. During the interview, Christoph shares his perspective on SEPA and SWIFT payments between the UK and EU in the wake of Brexit and what solutions are in place to support businesses in making cross-border payments simple after Brexit.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-11-06)
Likening Deutsche bank's travails to that of Lehman Brothers before its collapse, the Zero Hedge take presented the giant German bank as a zombie institution on the brink of a catastrophic ruination that would bring down the entire financial system.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-11-06)
The last time Canada slipped into a recession, we leaned heavily on the Bank of Canada to lift us out of it. The next time, we shouldn’t count on the central bank to carry the load. Current circumstances and the lessons of history suggest that government spending will have to lead the way.
G&M - Howard Schneider (2019-11-19)
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.
G&M - Shane Dingman (2019-11-19)
An Ontario tribunal has upheld Toronto regulations on short-term rentals that will restrict the most prolific hosts on Airbnb and other home-sharing services.
G&M - Mohamed A. El-Erain (2019-11-19)
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.
G&M - Mohamed A. El-Erain (2019-11-19)
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.
G&M - David Lawder (2019-11-19)
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.
FP - Barbara Shecter (2019-11-19)
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.
Better Dwelling (2019-11-19)
The growth rate is very high, and this is also a new record. The 12-month growth is the highest for October since 2011. The number of sales reported for the month is also the highest since 2007. Some of this is delayed demand from last year’s weak numbers, but it’s still a very large month.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-18)
Canada is oh-so-close to a sellers’ market in housing again, as prices rise at their fastest pace since the “go-go days.”
G&M - TEGAN HILL, JAKE FUSS AND JASON CLEMENS (2019-11-18)
During last month’s federal election campaign, many in the media – and in the Liberal Party – lauded the strength of Canada’s economy.
WSJ - Andrew Ackerman (2019-11-18)
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.
G&M - Alexandra Posadzki (2019-11-15)
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.
G&M - Patrick Brethour (2019-11-15)
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.
Better Dwelling - Daniel Wong (2019-11-15)
To contrast, condo apartment prices are slowing down more recently – but made a huge climb. Condo apartment prices fell 0.18% in Q3 2019, but are up 2.11% from the same quarter last year. From the start of the index in Q1 2017, prices are up a surreal 18.89% at the end of Q3 2019. Once again, the increase for condo apartment prices is over 3x the size of houses.
G&M - David Berman (2019-11-14)
Home Capital Group Inc.'s comeback went into high gear as a rebounding housing market and lower funding costs sent its earnings soaring just two years after the company plunged into financial crisis.
G&M - Reuters (2019-11-14)
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.
Bloomberg - Niclas Rolander (2019-11-14)
G&M - Video (2019-11-14)
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is asking Congress to tackle the growing budget deficit.
BNN - Erik Hertzberg (2019-11-14)
Justin Trudeau is starting his second term in worse fiscal shape than expected, meaning Canada’s finances will likely be pushed further into the red.
Bloomberg - Natalie Obiko Pearson (2019-11-12)
Bloomberg - Tim Duy (2019-11-12)
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-11-12)
The New York Fed added $111.909 billion to financial markets on Tuesday.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-11-12)
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.
G&M - Greg Mcarthur (2019-11-10)
A group of investors has launched a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario government alleging that the provincial regulator responsible for licensing mortgage brokers was negligent in allowing the sale of risky syndicated mortgage investment products marketed by the Tier 1 group of companies.
G&M - Tim Kiladze (2019-11-09)
The latest Canadian rental apartment owner to try going public has scrapped its deal despite heavy investor demand, deciding instead to sell to a private buyer at a premium price.
CBC - CP (2019-11-09)
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts last month slowed to 201,973 units in October compared with 221,135 in September.
CBC - CBC (2019-11-08)
It says the narrowing risk comes as home prices ease somewhat, with the average price down 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared with last, while the young-adult population continued to grow at 1.9 per cent to increase the pool of potential first-time homebuyers.
Better Dwelling - Daniel Wong (2019-11-08)
Canadian mortgage lenders lent a lot for new mortgages. Lenders advanced $42.98 billion in funds in August, up 23.52% from last year. Insured mortgages represent $11.09 billion of the total, and is up 12% compared to last year. Uninsured mortgages represent the other $31.89 billion, which is up 28% compared to last year. Both segments made big increases, but uninsured mortgages are growing twice as fast.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-07)
Sales of “uber-luxury” homes are picking up in the Greater Toronto Area.
FP - Andy Blatchford (2019-11-07)
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.
FP - Geoff Zachodine (2019-11-06)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-11-06)
“Generally stronger market activity reduced already low odds of a steep and widespread housing downturn over the next 12 months in Canada. There’s a greater likelihood that the market will heat up.”
Better Dwelling - Kaitlin Last (2019-11-06)
The price of a typical Greater Toronto home made a sharp increase, according to the benchmark. TREB reported a benchmark price of $810,900 in October, up 5.8% from last year. The City of Toronto benchmark reached $897,200, up 6.1% from the same month last year. Both the monthly and 12-month increases were stronger than typical last month.
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-11-06)
For decades, the central bank has raised rates to guard against coming price increases. Now, it seems to be raising that hurdle.
NY Times - Jim Tankersley (2019-11-06)
The Treasury Department says the Obama-era regulations are unnecessary after the 2017 tax overhaul.
FP - FP (2019-11-04)
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.
Bloomberg - Lionel Laurent (2019-11-04)
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.
Bloomberg - Sandy Hendry, Natasha Doff (2019-11-04)
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.
WSJ - James Mackintosh (2019-11-04)
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.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-11-04)
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
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-10-31)
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.
G&M - Geoffrey York (2019-10-30)
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.
G&M - Reuters (2019-10-30)
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.
CBC - CBC (2019-10-30)
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.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-10-29)
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.
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-10-29)
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.
G&M - PAUL WALDIE (2019-10-29)
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.
G&M - Reuters (2019-10-29)
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.
G&M - AP (2019-10-29)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-10-28)
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.
Reuters - Reuters Video (2019-10-25)
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.
CNBC - Jeff Cox (2019-10-24)
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.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-10-22)
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York injected $58.15 billion in overnight liquidity into financial markets.
Reuters - Fergal Smith (2019-10-22)
“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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-10-21)
Mark McCormick believes the currency market is “underpricing” the possibility of a minority Liberal government propped up by the New Democratic Party.
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.
WSJ - Kate O'Keeffe (2019-10-21)
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.
G&M - David Berman (2019-10-18)
Can voters affect stock prices in Canada? Investors are about to find out.
CBC - Jonathon Gatehouse (2019-10-17)
"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."
Reuters - Reuters (2019-10-17)
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.
Bloomberg - Jess Shankleman (2019-10-15)
More time needed as deal hanging in the balance as of Tuesday.
WSJ - James Mackintosh (2019-10-15)
The Federal Reserve has been clear that its latest Treasury-buying plan shouldn’t be construed as QE, or quantitative easing. They may have a point.
FP - Zane Schwartz (2019-10-15)
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.
FP - Philip Cross (2019-10-11)
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.
Reuters - Matt Scuffham (2019-10-11)
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.
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-10-11)
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.
Bloomberg - Jim Bianco (2019-10-09)
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-10-09)
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.
FT - Joe Rennison (2019-10-09)
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”.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-10-08)
“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.
Bloomberg - Andreas Kluth (2019-10-08)
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?
Bloomberg - Brian Chappatta (2019-10-02)
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.
NY Times - Amie Tsang (2019-09-30)
FT - Martin Arnold (2019-09-26)
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.
G&M - Video (2019-09-25)
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.
G&M - ROD NICKEL AND NIA WILLIAMS (2019-09-23)
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.
FP - Kevin Carmichael (2019-09-23)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-09-20)
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.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-09-20)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-09-19)
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.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-09-19)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-09-18)
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.
G&M - Ian McGugan (2019-09-18)
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.
Bloomberg - Ferdinando Giugliano (2019-09-17)
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.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-09-16)
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.
WSJ - David Harrison and Paul Hannon (2019-09-13)
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.
WSJ - Jon Sindreu (2019-09-13)
ECB President Mario Draghi’s emphasis on fiscal policy is an admission that further monetary stimulus can do little for the economy.
CBC - Reuters (2019-09-13)
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.
G&M - Robert Fife (2019-09-11)
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.
G&M - Howard Schneider (2019-09-11)
“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!”
G&M - KONRAD YAKABUSKI (2019-09-11)
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.
CBC - Catherine Tunney (2019-09-11)
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.
CBC - CP (2019-09-11)
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.
G&M - MICHELLE ZILIO, JANICE DICKSON KRISTY KIRKUP MARIEKE WALSH (2019-09-10)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to visit Governor-General Julie Payette on Wednesday morning to kick off the election campaign, Liberal sources said.
FP - Diane Francis (2019-09-10)
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.
Bloomberg - Charlotte Ryan and Matthew Boesler (2019-09-10)
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.
Bloomberg - Marcus Ashworth (2019-09-09)
Bloomberg - Mohamed A. El-Erain (2019-09-09)
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.
G&M - Ann Saphir (2019-09-05)
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.
FP - Kevin Carmichael (2019-09-05)
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.
CBC - CP (2019-09-04)
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.
WSJ - Natasha Kha, Neil Western (2019-09-04)
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.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-09-04)
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.
G&M - Nathan Vanderklippe (2019-09-04)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-09-04)
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.
G&M - Roger E. A. Farmer (2019-09-04)
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.
G&M - Bill Curry (2019-09-04)
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.
Bloomberg - Theophilos Argitis (2019-09-04)
The BOC resisted pressure from investors to signal it will follow global easing trends.
Bloomberg - Mohamed A. El-Erian (2019-09-04)
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.
G&M - Don Pittis (2019-09-03)
Inevitably, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz must do his job in the shadow of his powerful U.S. equivalent at the Federal Reserve.
Canadian Business - Andy Blatchford (2019-08-30)
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.
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-08-28)
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.
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-08-28)
G&M - Mark Mackinnon (2019-08-28)
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.”
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-08-27)
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.
NY Times - Stephanie Saul (2019-08-27)
CBC - AP (2019-08-26)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-08-26)
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.
Reuters - Brendan Pierson (2019-08-26)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-08-21)
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.
WSJ - Michael S. Derby (2019-08-21)
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari wants the Fed to make a firmer commitment to getting inflation back up to its 2% target.
WSJ - Gabriele Steinhauser, Thandi Ntobela (2019-08-21)
South Africa’s finance minister stirs controversy, especially in the kitchen.
Bloomberg - Theophilos Argitis (2019-08-21)
Bloomberg - Bloomberg Video (2019-08-21)
Zero interest bond flops.
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.
G&M - STEVE HOLLAND AND LISA LAMBERT (2019-08-20)
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.
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-08-19)
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.
G&M - KONRAD YAKABUSKI (2019-08-16)
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.
CBC - Robyn Urback (2019-08-16)
Six months ago, Trudeau told Canadians that a report his office pressured the AG was 'false.' He lied
Finextra - Finextra (2019-08-15)
The impending launch comes after five years of work. The People's Bank set up a research team to investigate a digital currency back in 2014.
G&M - Reuters (2019-08-14)
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.
G&M - Jeffrey Frankel (2019-08-14)
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.
Bloomberg - Michael Heath (2019-08-14)
WSJ - Lalita Clozel (2019-08-14)
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.
G&M - S.R. Slobodian (2019-08-14)
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.
Reuters - Kevin Yao, Ryan Woo (2019-08-13)
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.
WSJ - Daniel Kruger (2019-08-12)
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.
G&M - Matt Lundy (2019-08-09)
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.
Reuters - Leika Kihara (2019-08-09)
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.
FT - Henry Foy, Max Seddon (2019-08-09)
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.”
Bloomberg - Tim Duy (2019-08-08)
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.
CBC - Reuters (2019-08-06)
But later on Tuesday, China's central bank buttressed the yuan by fixing it at a slightly stronger rate, which ratcheted down the tensions a little.
FT - Kadhim Shubber (2019-08-06)
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.
FT - Mure Dickie (2019-08-06)
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.
Reuters - Pete Schroeder (2019-08-05)
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.
NY Times - NY Times (2019-08-05)
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.
FP - Kevin Carmichael (2019-08-02)
Geoff Zochodne talks to FP columnist Kevin Carmichael about the Fed’s first rate hike in a decade and where it goes from here.
Reuters - Ann Saphir, Richard Leong (2019-08-02)
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.
G&M - Matt Lundy (2019-07-31)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-07-31)
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.
CBC - CP (2019-07-31)
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.
WSJ - Greg IP (2019-07-30)
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.
WSJ - Nathaniel Taplin (2019-07-30)
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.
WSJ - Megumi Fujikawa (2019-07-30)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-07-29)
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.
Reuters - Ann Saphir (2019-07-29)
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.
WSJ - Kate Davidson (2019-07-29)
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.
G&M - DAVID PARKINSON (2019-07-28)
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.
G&M - Jeffrey Frankel (2019-07-28)
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.
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-07-28)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-07-26)
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.
WSJ - Tom Fairless (2019-07-26)
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.
Reuters - Reuters (2019-07-24)
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.
WSJ - Tom Fairless (2019-07-24)
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?
WSJ - PAUL J. DAVIES (2019-07-24)
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?
G&M - PAUL WALDIE (2019-07-23)
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.
G&M - Nicolas Van Praet (2019-07-23)
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.”
NY Times - David Mueller (2019-07-23)
WSJ - Brent Kendall (2019-07-23)
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.
WSJ - Brian Blackston (2019-07-22)
Central banks around the world are poised to unleash the most synchronized monetary stimulus since the financial crisis one decade ago.
Economist - Economist (2019-07-22)
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.
FP - Kevin Carmichael (2019-07-22)
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.
FT - James Politi and Lauren Fedor (2019-07-22)
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.
FT - James Politi (2019-07-22)
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.
FP - Martin Eichenbaum (2019-07-19)
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.
WSJ - Nina Trentmann (2019-07-19)
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.
WSJ - Josh Zumbrun, Bojan Pancevski (2019-07-19)
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.”
WSJ - Brian Blackstone (2019-07-19)
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.
Reuters - Reuters Video (2019-07-18)
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.
Bloomberg - Shull Ren (2019-07-18)
Yahoo Finance - Leigh Thomas (2019-07-17)
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.
The Guardian - Paul Karp (2019-07-17)
Australia’s prudential regulator will gain new powers to prevent “inappropriate” directors and senior executives being appointed, the federal government has promised.
FP - Karin Strohecker (2019-07-16)
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.
NY Times - Jack Ewing, Amie Tsang (2019-07-16)
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.
WSJ - Dave Michaels, Sam Schechner (2019-07-16)
G&M - James Bradshaw (2019-07-16)
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.
G&M - PETE SCHROEDER AND KATIE PAUL (2019-07-16)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-07-15)
We're heading toward key central bank meetings that promise to move financial markets.
CBC - CBC (2019-07-15)
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.
G&M - Niall McGee (2019-07-15)
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.
G&M - David Milstead (2019-07-12)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-07-12)
Deficit to top $1 trillion US by end of fiscal year, Trump administration projects
CBC - AP (2019-07-12)
France has adopted a pioneering tax on internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook despite threats from the U.S.
FP - Reuters (2019-07-12)
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.
G&M - GIUSEPPE VALIANTE (2019-07-11)
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.
Bloomberg - Matthew Burgess (2019-07-11)
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.
G&M - Fergal Smith (2019-07-10)
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.
Bloomberg - Laura Curtis (2019-07-10)
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-07-10)
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.
WSJ - Nathan Allen (2019-07-10)
European equities decline
G&M - Bill Curry (2019-07-10)
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.
CBC - AP (2019-07-10)
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.
Reuters - Howard Schneider (2019-07-10)
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
Reuters - David Shepardson (2019-07-10)
“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.
Bloomberg - Theophilos Aargitis (2019-07-09)
Bloomberg - Katherine Greifield (2019-07-09)
G&M - Andrew Willis (2019-07-08)
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.
FP - Kevin Carmichael (2019-07-08)
Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service offered via Twitter this week to help executives struggling with this question: What is a free trade agreement?
NY Times - Jeanna Smialek (2019-07-08)
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.
CBC - Catharine Tunney (2019-07-08)
"The federal government must put measures in place to ensure that this situation never happens again."
FP - William Watson (2019-07-08)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-07-05)
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.
G&M - Mumal Rathore (2019-07-05)
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.
Finextra - Finextra (2019-07-04)
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..
G&M - Joseph E. Stiglitz (2019-07-04)
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.
G&M - Michelle Zilio (2019-07-04)
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.
CBC - Geoff Leo (2019-07-04)
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.
G&M - PAUL WALDIE (2019-07-04)
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.
G&M - Johnson Lai (2019-07-03)
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.
G&M - Rob Nickel (2019-07-03)
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.
Bloomberg - Robert Tuttle (2019-07-03)
G&M - Matthew McClearn (2019-07-02)
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.
WSJ - James Glynn (2019-07-02)
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.
WSJ - Tim Fairless (2019-07-02)
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.
FP - Larysa Harapyn - video (2019-06-26)
Mark Warner of MAAW Law speaks with the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about the upcoming G20 summit in Japan.
WSJ - Spencer Jacob (2019-06-26)
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.
WSJ - Vibhuti Agarwal (2019-06-26)
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.
FP - Geoff Zochodne (2019-06-26)
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.
G&M - KANISHKA SINGH (2019-06-25)
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.
CBC - CBC (2019-06-25)
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.
FP - Victor Ferreirra (2019-06-25)
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 Video - Ed Devlin-Video (2019-06-25)
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.
NY Times - Powell speech (2019-06-25)
Discusses concerns with global economy and policy decisions.
fsim.ca - Mark Sibthorpe (2019-06-25)
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.
BNN - BNN Video (2019-06-24)
The Bank of Canada is facing a meaningfully different macroeconomic environment, so I do not believe they will be in lockstep with the Fed.
G&M - Janet McFarland (2019-06-24)
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.
G&M - Michael Babad (2019-06-24)
“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.
CBC - Don Pittis (2019-06-24)
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.
Bloomberg - Alistair Marsh (2019-06-24)
CBC - CBC (2019-06-20)
The U.S. central bank has decided to keep its benchmark interest rate right where it is, in a range between 2.25 and 2.5 per cent.
WSJ - Greg IP (2019-06-20)
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.
G&M - Adrian Morrow (2019-06-20)
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.
G&M - HALLIE GU AND DOMINIQUE PATTON (2019-06-19)
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.
WSJ - Mike Bird (2019-06-19)
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.
G&M - Geoffrey York (2019-06-18)
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?
G&M - Barrie McKenna (2019-06-17)
Depending on who’s talking, Canada’s farm export sector is either on the cusp of greatness or headed for disaster.
G&M - David Luggren (2019-06-17)
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.
BBC - BBC (2019-06-17)
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.
WSJ - Nick Timiraos (2019-06-17)
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.
WSJ - Akane Otani (2019-06-17)
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.
NY Times - Neil Irwin (2019-06-17)
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.
WSJ - Lawrence Norman (2019-06-17)
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.
WSJ - WSJ (2019-06-17)
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.
FP - Philip Cross (2019-06-13)
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.
G&M - Nathan Vanderklippe (2019-06-12)
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.
WSJ - Brian Blackston (2019-06-11)
As the global economy slows, central bank policies won’t follow the same path as a decade ago.
WSJ - Vivian Salama (2019-06-11)
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.
Reuters - Clare Jim, Kane Wu (2019-06-11)
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.
NY Times - Ben Dooley (2019-06-10)
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.
