Trump moves to scale back financial regulations + MORE Feb 4th

President Donald Trump is taking his first steps aimed at scaling back financial services regulations, and the Republican-run Congress cast a vote early Friday signalling that it’s eager to help.
The president signed an executive order that will direct the Treasury secretary to review a 2010 financial oversight law, which reshaped financial regulation after the 2008-09 financial crisis.
Trump also signed a presidential memorandum that instructs the Labor Department to delay implementing an Obama-era rule that requires financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients’ best interests first when giving advice on retirement investments.
While the financial oversight order won’t have any immediate impact, the administration’s intent is clear.
“The Dodd-Frank Act is a disastrous policy that’s hindering our markets, reducing the availability of credit and crippling our economy’s ability to grow and create jobs,” said Press Secretary Sean Spicer…

A Canadian company is taking its patent-infringement claims against the owner of Snapchat to the U.S. federal court system.
Investel Capital announced the U.S. legal battle on Friday, a day after Snap Inc. officially filed for a U.S. initial public offering that could raise an estimated US$3 billion or more from investors.
The Vancouver-based investment fund says it owns the rights to location-based filters used by the Snapchat social media platform, which shares photos and videos over the Internet using smartphones.
It says the “sponsored geofilters” mentioned in Snap’s IPO filing violate Investel’s rights to technology for pinpointing the geographic location of users _ information that can be used to generate revenue from advertisers.
Investel previously filed a similar claim in Canada’s federal court system last August. The facts of the claim have not been proven or disproven in court but the Federal Court of Canada has ruled that the claim can proceed.
A Snap Inc…

Real estate sales figures in January are reinforcing suggestions that Canada’s two most widely watched housing markets will take divergent paths this year, with Toronto set to continue its boom while Vancouver faces a possible correction.
Sales in the Greater Toronto Area picked up last month where 2016 left off, with 5,188 transactions compared to 4,460 in January 2016, an increase of 11.8 per cent, the Toronto Real Estate Board said Friday.
Toronto’s sales gain came despite a 17.6 per cent drop in the number of new GTA listings, down from 8,906 to 7,338 year-over-year.
Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis, said the number of active listings on the board’s MLS system at the end of January was essentially half of what was reported as available at the same time last year.
“That statistic, on its own, tells us that there is a serious supply problem in the GTA,” Mercer said in a statement.
“The result will be very strong price growth for all home types again this year…

Manitoba Hydro is cutting 900 positions across the province to improve operational efficiencies and strengthen its financial position.
The company says it is also cutting three vice-presidents, effective Friday.
The Crown utility plans to offer voluntary buyouts later this spring to help it reach the number of job cuts.
Wages are already frozen this year for more than half of Manitoba Hydro’s employees.
Three of the four unions that represent about 2,100 workers negotiated new contracts in the past few months, which include a zero-per-cent wage hike for 2017.
Hydro executives warned in the fall that the utility’s debt could increase to $25 billion from the current $13 billion in the next few years as the Keeyask generating station and the Bipole III transmission line are completed.
Hydro president and CEO Kelvin Shepherd says the wage freezes “combined with ongoing reviews of operating and capital expenditures, are all significant steps towards improving the financial stability of Manitoba Hydro…

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