Toronto Financial Cluster Presentation

By: Pejvak Panahian Larki

The next big thing

At some point, news reveals that new securities are vulnerable to some unattended risks, and in particular are not good substitutes for the traditional securities. Both investors and intermediaries are surprised at the news, and investors sell these “false substitutes,” moving back to the traditional securities with the cash flows they seek. As investors fly for safety, financial institutions are stuck holding the supply of the new securities (or worse yet, having to dump them as well in a fire sale because they are leveraged). The prices of traditional securities rise while those of the new ones fall sharply.

Credit card fraud Based on reader email and blog

comments, the latter is the biggest concern. According to the Interac Association, the number of Canadians who had to be reimbursed for debit card fraud almost quintupled from 49,000 in 2004 to 238,000 in 2009. This has prompted financial institutions to introduce so-called “PIN and chip” technology they hope will prove more secure.

New Models for Engagement – Connecting People, Employers

CATALYST: The innovative & proactive force in developing the initiative

INCUBATOR: Gave life to the initiative: resources in cash and in kind

COLLABORATOR: Pulled together stakeholders to seek a common mandate

PARTNER: A meaningful mix of vision, expertise and neutrality

RUDDER: Articulating a direction forward in growing Toronto and the FSS as a  Global Hub for Education and Talent (The Deloitte Report, Boston Consulting Group research, GFCI, etc.)

Bank of Nova Scotia to focus expansion in Asia

The Bank of Nova Scotia is switching its top priority region for expansion to Asia after building a bigger presence in Latin America over the past five years, CEO Richard Waugh said Wednesday.BNS will focus on the dozen Asian markets where it i s already well established, Waugh said, including Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Canada’s third biggest bank is also the most diversified geographically.

Ottawa Changes GST rules

The government has changed the rules on a goods and services tax exemption in a way that the industry says applies GST for the first time to a number of financial services offered by, for example, mortgage brokers and insurance advisers. The industry says the costs will be passed on to consumers. Banks, insurers, mortgage and insurance brokers, and investment companies are urging the Finance Department to retract its amendments and hold broad consultations before going back to the drawing board

Bankers chafe at restrictions

According to the article, Jim Flaherty Canada’s Finance Ministry went on an American radio and told listeners that the Canadian government will not be easing any of its banking regulation. Furthermore, he goes to say that because of a more strict banking policy Canadians were not needed to bail out banks.

Anglo Irish Bank logs biggest loss in Irish corporate history

Ireland is trying to cope with the news of Anglo-Irish bank’s worst posting ever to be recorded. The finance minister blamed the banks for irresponsible behaviour.The bank, like many of its rivals, has been battered by the global financial crisis, a deep recession and a property market meltdown, resulting in billions of euros of bad debts.

Citigroup executive William Rhodes to Retire

Citigroup senior vice chairman William Rhodes, who gained a reputation for international financial diplomacy in the 1980s and led the banking giant’s expansion into emerging markets, will retire on April 30, ending a 53-year tenure.

Canada real estate interest to increase

The Bank of Canada took its first step to on increasing interest rates, officials agree that the economy is performing better than expected. The messages were conveyed in the Bank of Canada’s latest interest-rate statement, which kept its record-low benchmark rate of 0.25% as is and pledged to keep it there until July. But most bank watchers took note of subtle changes in the statement, compared with previous rate announcements, and there was enough there for them to begin the countdown to rate hikes.In the statement, the central bank acknowledged economic activity has been “slightly higher” than its own projections, with the 5% gain in the fourth quarter powered by “vigorous domestic demand” and a recovery in exports.