Big banks defend their records to MPs amid allegations of questionable practices + MORE Jun 12th

Federal MPs are hearing from Canada’s big banks as a parliamentary committee explores allegations of questionable sales practices at major financial institutions.
The committee launched the hearings following media reports citing unnamed employees at some banks who allege they were pressured to sell unnecessary products and services in order to boost profits and hit lofty sales objectives.
Representatives of the country’s largest banks, including CIBC, Scotiabank, TD, BMO, National Bank and RBC, are testifying before the committee.
Officials from the big banks are denying the accusations and defending their practices by insisting they put the needs of their customers first, enforce codes of conduct, regularly seek staff and client feedback and address any inappropriate behaviour.
They all say the allegations in the reports, which were first broadcast by the CBC, are unacceptable and that all issues with client interactions are taken very seriously.
Last week, the committee heard allegations through first- and second-hand accounts made by former bank employees that workers feel pressure to hit unreasonable sales goals, entice clients into raising their credit-card limits and offer mortgages beyond what clients can reasonably afford…

The Safer Dogs of the TSX returned from their vacation this week. The occasion prompted me to take a closer look at the developments in the world of the high-yield blue-chip stocks over the last six weeks.

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Safer Canadian Dogs

Seven stocks passed the Safer Dogs test on both April 26 and June 8. They are: the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), BCE (BCE), CIBC (CM), National Bank (NA), Power Corp. (POW), Shaw (SJR.B), and TELUS (T). All should be familiar names. The newcomers this time around are: the Bank of Montreal (BMO), Emera (EMA), and Sun Life Financial (SLF).
Back in April the highest dividend yield of 4.58% was offered by both CIBC and BCE. This time around Power Corp took home top prize with a dividend yield of 4.96%. Dividend yields also climbed at the bottom end of the pack with April’s Royal Bank (RY) yielding 3.65% and June’s Sun Life yielding 3.82%. Overall, the Safer Dogs provided an average dividend yield of 4.09% in April and 4.32% in June. The average dividend yield climbed by 23 basis points over the period…

Weakness in the technology sector weighed on North American stock markets as the loonie shot up after “hawkish” comments about the economy by the second in command at the Bank of Canada.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 89.41 points to 15,383.80 at the close.
The TSX came under pressure from information technology stocks including BlackBerry (TSX:BB) and CGI Group (TSX:GIB.A).
The tech sector has made strong gains this year, but investors are selling some of the best-performing stocks.
In New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 32.45 points to 6,175.47. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 36.30 points at 21,235.67 and S&P 500 index shed 2.38 points to 2,429.39.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.21 of a U.S. cent to an average trading price of 74.54 cents US, following a speech by the Bank of Canada’s Carolyn Wilkins. The senior deputy governor said the central bank is encouraged by a broadening of economic strength, which includes gains across 70 per cent of industries…

Ottawa didn’t handle the near bankruptcy of Home Capital Group Inc. all that well.
The authorities behaved like it was 1996, the last time a Canadian financial institution failed. They said little in public, while reportedly doing all sorts of prudent things behind the scenes. Meanwhile, flimsy parallels to America’s housing meltdown spread through international markets via Twitter; the instant-messaging functions on Bloomberg data terminals; and the financial press, which appeared a tad too eager to cover a crisis.
It came a month too late, but someone in Ottawa finally explained in convincing detail why Home Capital could never be Canada’s “Lehman moment.” At a press conference on June 8, Carolyn Wilkins, the No. 2 at the Bank of Canada, laid out all the reasons why a national housing meltdown is so remote.
“It’s quite tempting to draw parallels” with the U.S., Wilkins said. Debt is high and home prices are off the charts. Yet, “at the same time, when you understand what really led to the severity of the financial stress in the U…

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks about Ontario’s Fair Housing Plan during a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, April 20, 2017. (Christopher Katsarov/CP)
It’s been of the hottest topics this year in provincial politics in both British Columbia and Ontario. How do you cool an overheated real estate market? Both provinces have implemented a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax as a partial solution. Different generations are likely reacting very differently to the new levy, according to a poll conducted as part of The Canada Project. Baby boomers and millennials have different opinions on the efficacy of this tax and what how it will affect their ability to purchase a home.
Fully 82 per cent of baby boomers said they either “support or “strongly support” the foreign buyers tax compared to millennial respondents where only 69 per cent did so. It’s an odd outcome. Foreign buyers actually raise house prices, thus helping boomers, who are more likely to be homeowners, and hurting millennials, who are more likely to be looking for a first home…