Bank towers are shown from Bay Street in Toronto's financial district, on Wednesday, June 16, 2010.Adrien Vecza
Here are the top reads,
Debt-fuelled merger: Calgary energy services firms combine in reverse takeover Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Budget commentary: Federal budget keeps Canada's fintech sector in the 'valley of death' Opinion
Legal beat: One of Canada's prominent corporate lawyers has retired from his firm after more than three decades on Bay Street, embarking on a new phase of a career that has included advising on many of the country's intricate deals. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Bank earnings: Impressive first-quarter results from Toronto-Dominion Bank extended a winning streak for Canada's big banks supported by booming international returns and low loan losses that continue to defy credit skeptics. Story (James Bradshaw)
FINANCIAL SERVICES WRAP
Mortgages: A clampdown on lending rules for foreign buyers could prove to be a major game changer for Vancouver's housing industry. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has sent out a memo to its mortgage specialists that said, as of Feb. 1, it has ended its Foreign Income Program and will introduce more stringent requirements for foreign clients. Story
Talent: The Bank of Montreal is taking over a four-storey space in the Toronto Eaton Centre in a bid to attract the high-tech talent it needs to bring ideas to the market quicker. Story
Bragging rights: Royal Bank of Canada reclaimed the nation's largest lender title, ousting Toronto-Dominion Bank to recapture the top spot it has owned for most of the past 100 years. Story
Wealth management: There is no question that the number of wealthy people in Canada is growing. But the million-dollar question is: Who will manage their money? The number of high-net-worth Canadians grew by 11.3 per cent to 356,900 in 2016, according to the Capgemini World Wealth Report 2017. Their financial assets, in turn, grew by 11.7 per cent to $1.1-trillion. Story
Regulation: The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to dozens of people and companies behind the rise of so-called initial coin offerings, a clear sign of the agency's desire to rein in the popular new fundraising method. Story (for subscribers)
Security: Equifax Inc, a provider of consumer credit scores, on Thursday said it found another 2.4 million U.S. consumers hit by a data breach last year, bringing the total to 147.9 million. Story
DEAL WRAP
Takeover hitch: Australia's competition regulator has raised concerns about a planned US$1.0-billion takeover of Murray Goulburn Co-operative by Canada's Saputo Inc, threatening a deal Australia's largest dairy processor says is key to its survival.Story
U.S. venture financing: Food delivery startup DoorDash has just gobbled down a gargantuan US$535-million round of funding, spoon-fed by Japan's SoftBank, with participation from Sequoia Capital, GIC, and Wellcome Trust. VentureBeat
WHAT WE'RE READING ELSEWHERE
Ooops: Harvard blew a US$1-billion bet on tomatoes, sugar, and eucalyptus. The university's highly paid money managers thought they could manage risks other schools avoided. Bloomberg
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