Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS
Scotiabank hikes dividend on boost from international banking, while BMO’s profit stays flat: Rising international banking profit and lower expected loan losses helped to propel strong third-quarter results at the Bank of Nova Scotia, while the Bank of Montreal’s earnings suffered from relative weakness in those same areas. Profit rose 2 per cent at Scotiabank, or 9 per cent when excluding a large loss on the sale of its operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – a sign of progress that broke a streak of four straight quarters of disappointing results. Yet at BMO, profit increased by just 1 per cent, as higher expected loan losses offset steady progress in its core divisions. Story (James Bradshaw)
‘Fastest levels of commercial insolvencies since the crisis’ means don’t buy Canadian bank stocks until 2020: Analyst Nigel D’Souza, financial services analyst at Veritas Investment Research, is not excited about the short-term outlook for Canadian bank stocks. Mr. D’Souza mentioned some alarming statistics in a BNN Bloomberg interview Monday. The analyst cited a ‘constrained outlook for economic growth’ in Canada which is causing ‘elevated levels of credit losses.' For RBC and CIBC, credit losses are climbing at a 45 per cent year-over-year pace because of ‘the fastest levels of commercial insolvencies since the financial crisis.’ Story (Scott Barlow)
As OSC intervenes in forex fight, private lawsuits forge ahead: Canadian regulators have stepped into a long-running fight over alleged misbehaviour by foreign-exchange traders in which global giants of banking have already set aside more than $100-million in a class-action suit to compensate this country’s investors. Story (David Milstead, Clare O’Hara)
Opinion: A story of compliance not keeping up with technology, OSC allegations against RBC and TD are all too familiar: What’s going to haunt RBC and TD brass, and garner the full attention of the regulator, is their senior executives’ failure to supervise the currency traders and keep client information confidential, despite numerous signs that something was amiss. Story (Andrew Willis)
Trustee overseeing Quadriga’s bankruptcy says it’s working with four investigative agencies including RCMP: Four law enforcement and regulatory agencies, including the RCMP and the Ontario Securities Commission, are investigating QuadrigaCX, according to the trustee overseeing the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings. Ernst & Young says it has received formal document requests relating to some of the investigations, including from the RCMP’s financial crime division in Milton, Ont., and is looking to move the case from Halifax to Toronto to make it less costly to comply with the probes. Story (Alexandra Posadzki)
Deutsche Bank says records sought in Trump congressional probe include tax returns: Financial records related to U.S. President Donald Trump and three of his children that congressional Democrats have requested from Deutsche Bank AG include tax returns, the bank disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday. Story (Reuters)
DEALS NEWS: MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, IPOs and FINANCINGS
Canopy’s venture-capital arm reports $3-million loss: Canopy Rivers Inc., the venture capital arm of cannabis company Canopy Growth Corp., reported a net loss of nearly $3-million in its latest quarter. Story (Canadian Press)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Venture Capital has strongest first half on record with $2.15-billion raised: Helped along by a record second quarter, which saw $1.28-billion invested over 143 deals, venture-capital investment in Canada beat the previous record of $1.7-billion set in the first half of 2018, according to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s market overview report, released on Tuesday. Story (Stefanie Marotta)
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