Bank towers are shown from Bay Street in Toronto's financial district, on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. Canada's largest city is getting itself a new resident this year: the headquarters of the federal government's new infrastructure financing agency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrien VeczanThe Canadian Press
During the summer of 2007 one of Canada's leading institutions faced the crisis that first alerted us to the rot underlying our entire financial system. We're still recovering from the shock of Caisse's ABCP debacle. Comment (Konrad Yakabuski, for subscribers)
Former clients are suing Richardson GMP and two of its advisers, alleging code-of-conduct violations and negligence resulted in heavy investment losses, in the second lawsuit targeting the dealer's Calgary office after a $50-million action. Story (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is reaping the early fruits of efforts to reshape its business as its newly minted U.S. arm contributed to higher third-quarter profit. Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Britain's financial sector is seeking an "ambitious" trade pact between Britain and the European Union to try to prevent a costly shift of jobs and business to the continent once the country leaves the bloc, according to a draft report seen by Reuters. Story
DEALS AND FINANCINGS
A consortium that includes Western Digital is offering 1.9 trillion yen ($17.4-billion U.S.) for Toshiba Corp's memory chip business, which the Japanese conglomerate is trying to sell to cover losses from its U.S. nuclear business, sources said on Thursday. Story
Iconic Canadian retailer Roots Canada Ltd. hired banks to prepare an initial public offering this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Story
Beijing BDStar Navigation Co., Ltd., through BDStar Investments (Canada) Co., Ltd., has completed previously announced acquisition of Rx Networks Inc. for $31 million of all cash consideration, subject to a 20 per cent holdback of the consideration for a period of two years. Private Capital Journal
Descartes Labs, a company that provides information about Earth derived from satellite imagery, announced today that it raised $30 million (U.S.) in a series B round led by LA-based March Capital. Crosslink Capital, Cultivian Sandbox, and other investors who previously provided funding to Descartes also participated. Cargill, an agricultural conglomerate that is also one of the company's customers, joined the round as well. VentureBeat
Ezetap wants to enable businesses in India to accept any form of payment and today announced funding of $16 million (U.S.) to further that goal. Jonathan Soros' investment firm JS Capital Management led the round, with participation from Jeff Skoll Group, Social Capital, and Horizons Ventures. VentureBeat
WHAT WE'RE READING
For first-time VC fundraisers, 2017 has been a banner year. Through the first seven months of the year, the amount raised is set to outpace the high-water mark set in 2008—and it's already exceeded full-year totals for 2012 through 2014. Pitchbook
China Life Insurance Group Co and Baidu Inc will form a 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) private equity fund, targeting internet and other technology investments, China Life's listed arm said on Thursday. PE Hub
Europe's MiFID II rules haven't even kicked in, yet policy makers are already busy trying to make sure their oversight of financial markets is up to date. Recent decisions by two of the world's biggest hedge funds highlight the huge number of firms that may escape the full brunt of the MiFID II regulations that start on Jan. 3. Bloomberg
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Canada's securities regulators are wading into the murky world of initial coin offerings. An ICO is an emerging form of fundraising, in some cases similar to crowdfunding, in which companies sell digital "coins" or "tokens" to finance a new venture. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Rob Carrick: Strange but true: A big bank savings account with decent rates Comment