Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last week
| Ottawa’s new loan program may take ‘several weeks’ to implement, say financial industry sources: Ottawa’s new loan program to help small businesses affected by the new coronavirus may take several weeks to launch, according to financial industry sources. (James Bradshaw)
| Brookfield Asset Management shifting investment focus to publicly traded debt, stocks as markets tumble: Brookfield Asset Management Inc. chief executive officer Bruce Flatt says his company is moving away from private assets and buying publicly traded debt and stocks – including its own – in the recent market carnage. (David Milstead)
| TD Waterhouse faces $4-million fine over improper disclosures, raising questions of potential systemic problems: A regulatory panel has ordered TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. to pay a $4-million fine for disclosure errors in the quarterly statements of 175,000 client accounts, raising concerns about “possible systemic weakness” in the investment firm’s governance systems. (Greg McArthur)
| Companies raise financing in bid to solidify financial health: For companies forced to sell stock in markets gripped by a pandemic, the cure could be almost as bad as the disease. The corporate world is beginning to split into two groups: strong companies that can continue to borrow money and debt-heavy businesses that are losing access to credit markets. Analysts are starting to consider how highly leveraged companies will raise money in sectors that have been hit hard by COVID-19, such as cruise lines, oil and gas producers, hotels and retail chains. (Andrew Willis)
| OSC imposes freeze order as it investigates developer Harry Stinson: Ontario’s securities regulator has slapped Harry Stinson, the prominent Toronto real estate developer, with a cease trade order, alleging that companies under his control may have made misleading statements about investments in a Buffalo hotel. (Greg McArthur)
| Canada’s big banks swamped by requests for mortgage deferrals as job losses multiply: Canada’s largest banks are fielding a deluge of requests to defer payments on mortgages as businesses suffer from efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus and job losses multiply. (James Bradshaw)
| Trudeau asks banks to work to alleviate the burden of credit-card interest rates: The federal government is working with banks to find ways to alleviate the burden of credit-card interest rates for Canadians facing financial stresses caused by COVID-19, the Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday. (Bill Curry and James Bradshaw)
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| Britain’s Endeavour buying Canadian gold miner Semafo as COVID-19 inflicts growing damage on mining sector: Britain’s Endeavour Mining Corp. plans to acquire Canadian gold miner Semafo Inc. in a friendly deal worth $1-billion as an increasing cadre of global mining companies pare back operations and conserve cash with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening. (Niall McGee)
| ‘Our moment of truth’: CIBC’s Victor Dodig on the bank’s role in coping with coronavirus: The chief executive of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce says banks are facing their “moment of truth” as they are thrust into a central role in keeping businesses and families afloat long enough to ride out a fast-moving public health emergency. (James Bradshaw)
| Big banks are trying for a kumbaya moment with their virus response - Can you trust it? Our big banks have cast themselves as the good guys in the battle against the coronavirus outbreak. They’re giving money to charity, boosting pay for front-line staff and offering to work with businesses and individuals who can’t pay what they owe because of financial hardship. Credit the banks for all of this, but don’t take their good-guy persona too seriously. Even in pandemics, banks work primarily for their shareholders and not their customers. (Rob Carrick)
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Streetwise newsletter: Best reads of the week
