The “Big Five” Canadian banks include Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust), Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). Are there other viable options?
Latest News
Italy merges two banks in bid to prop up struggling sector Oct 17th
New lender Banco BPM will become country’s third-largest; PM aims to boost confidence ahead of December referendum on constitutional reform
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Should I Get a Variable or Fixed Mortgage? RBC Cuts Rates and the Answer is No Longer Clear + MORE Jan 25th
Last week, Canada’s biggest bank, RBC, cut its five-year fixed rate by 15 basis points. This gave customers the option to lock in their mortgage rate at 3.74 per cent, for a five-year term. And surely enough, TD Bank and BMO Bank of Montreal followed suit and cut their five-year fixed rates to th.... More »
Questrade vs. Wealthsimple: which online investing service is right for you? + MORE Dec 6th
If you’ve decided to try out online investing and have narrowed down your choices to Wealthsimple and Questrade—congratulations! Both are solid Canadian options that can help you grow your money and achieve your investment goals.
But choosing between the two can be tricky. While the two financia.... More »
Visa vs. Mastercard: What are the differences—and do they matter? Aug 21st
A frequent question we hear at MoneySense is: Which is better—Visa or Mastercard? When looking for a credit card, there are all sorts of things to consider. What is the interest rate? Can you collect rewards points or cash back for making purchases? Is there a bonus for signing up, and what perks .... More »
South Korea inspects six banks over virtual currency services to clients Jan 8th
The inspection will check if banks are adhering to anti-money laundering rules and using real names for accounts
.... More »
Screwed!
– moneysense.ca
“Our retirement dreams are in tatters.” The line jumps out from an email to MoneySense from a reader we’ll call Ellen Thornton. The Thorntons’ retirement portfolio once stood at $2.2 million, but as of early 2014 it had plummeted about 90% to just $225,000. Their advisor—who works with the wealth management arm of one of the Big Five banks—told the couple that $2 million wasn’t enough to retire on and encouraged them to pile on risk in pursuit of higher returns. When Ellen’s husband, Barry, complained, Ellen says he was belittled by the advisor. Barry was so shaken by the experience that during his tirade he suffered a pulmonary attack. The Thorntons filed a complaint with the bank’s ombudsman, but they don’t expect to recover their losses. “They prefer to spend a fortune on lawyers rather than putting things right for clients,” Ellen wrote. “Yes, I am scared, but I have to fight this. Crying as I type.”The Thorntons’ story is not as rare as it might sound: Far too many investors have, in some form or another, been screwed by their advisors…
China cracks whip on foreign banks with forex shut-out
– theglobeandmail.com
Beijing targets ‘aggressive’ trading to stem capital flows
