Cash Store faces new payday loan rules: Roseman + MORE Dec 23rd

The Payday Loan Act will be amended to protect consumers who get a basic line of credit at Cash Store, a lender that is not licensed in Ontario.

Homeowners are increasingly taking control of their home financing options – and are enjoying savings as a result – according to the comprehensive housing market report released by CMHC this Wednesday.
According to the 2013 edition of the Canadian Housing Observer, an annual market tome released by the crown corporation, there is a growing trend in mortgage rate negotiation, taking advantage of prepayment options, and growing home equity at a faster pace.
It Pays To Question The Posted Rate
The report finds that those who challenged the posted rate offered by big lenders saved on average 2.2 points on their interest rate, based on a survey that finds the average five-year fixed rate held by negotiating buyers to be 3.05, compared to the advertised 5.25 per cent from the banks.
These savings are even greater than last year, when the average rate by negotiation was 1.85 per cent. Buyers are also increasingly turning to brokers to help them secure their best rate – 23 per cent in 2013, compared to just 14 per cent in 1999…

CALGARY – Niko Resources Ltd. (TSX:NKO) said Monday that it has closed deals to raise US$340 million in new senior secured term loans and C$33 million in a stock offering.
The oil and gas company also said it has agreed to pay US$80 million to Diamond Offshore to settle a dispute with the company over drilling contracts.
Shares in the company were up 62 cents or about 24 per cent at C$3.18 on the Toronto Stock Exchange before trading was halted pending the announcements Monday.
Niko said its earlier credit facility and secured loan agreements have been fully repaid and the outstanding principal amount of its unsecured notes has been reduced to about $13 million.
The remaining US$174 million of a US$320-million advance will be used to fund development of a project in India and for general corporate purposes, the company said.
The undrawn US$20 million loan is expected to be drawn in January if a deal with Hess Corp. related to a production-sharing contract is not closed by Jan. 15…

Much gnashing of teeth today over the federal government’s decision not to play ball with PEI and Ontario over expanding the Canada Pension Plan into a so-called “Big” CPP. Probably the best summary of it came in Terry Corcoran’s column today flagged on both the front of the National Post and the FP: billed respectively as “Failure to move ahead on big CPP a big relief” and “The right call on big CPP.” (double entendre on the word “right?”)
It’s also instructive to read the reader comments on the various online pieces. These tend either to be of the “my mum lives on CPP/OAS/GIS and is doing fine” variety or else the “I’ve been saving all my life for retirement, so why do we have to go back to government for more?” type.
It is a bit outrageous that the Ontario government – fresh from the gas plant debacle, following which we all pay way too much for electricity – is now claiming it’s willing to go it alone to introduce a big CPP in the province…

WASHINGTON – PNC Financial Services Group is paying $35 million to resolve government claims of discrimination in car loans against a Cleveland-based bank that PNC bought in 2009.
The agreement announced Monday by the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau addresses claims that more than 75,000 African-American and Latino customers of National City Bank paid more for their car loans between 2002 and 2008. There is no allegation of discrimination by Pittsburgh-based PNC, which bought National City Bank.
The discrimination settlement follows a similar but larger $98 million agreement last week between the government and Detroit-based Ally Financial Inc.
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