Banking in Canada can be a murky subject – one that we hope to shed some light on with a series of highly informational articles.
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At the open: TSX falls as lower commodity prices weigh + MORE Mar 8th
Wall Street higher as banks rise on strong ADP data
.... More »
4 Tips to Avoid the Post-Holiday (Financial) Hangover Jan 3rd
Christmas and New Year’s Day has already come and gone, leaving us to “look forward” to Blue Monday, the (unofficially) most depressing day of the year. In 2019, Blue Monday falls on Monday, January 21, and the day is calculated by factoring in things such as weather and, yes, deb.... More »
How European Bonds Impact Canadian Mortgage Rates + MORE Apr 28th
Canadians have enjoyed ultra-low mortgage rates for several years now, but this spring marks a truly competitive season; even big banks have discounted their fixed rates to record lows, while a January Bank of Canada rate cut has led to the lowest Prime rate since 2010. Spring is traditionally the .... More »
The Bank of Canada keeps urging caution as markets show signs of life Mar 2nd
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
On January 17, National Bank’s Stéfane Marion, one of the better Bay Street economists, wondered if Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz might adopt explicit forward guidance to weaken the value of the dollar. Marion observed that the centr.... More »
Is Credit Card Debt Good for Canada’s Big Banks? + MORE Apr 22nd
The dangers of taking on too much debt are a constant narrative in Canada, especially as the economy takes a turn for the worst. Today’s environment of high unemployment, low oil prices and tepid growth forecasts prompt a stern warning for consumers to resist borrowing too much, as exposure t.... More »
(Getty Images/Arda Guldogan)If you’re interested in making money off of other people’s debt you may have an increased opportunity, at least if the Bank of Canada gets its way.
A recent article, written by Bank of Canada deputy governor Lawrence Schembri, pressed for risk exposure changes in Canada’s mortgage market. In particular, Schembri suggested that the creation of a private-label mortgage securitization market in Canada.
Private-label mortgage securities includes any mortgage product that does not conform to criteria set by A-list banks and the CMHC. As a result, these private-label mortgages carry a significantly greater risk. Examples of these mortgages include: low-doc (aka: Liar loans), 40-year mortgages, large loans (over $415,000 in the US, over $1-million in Canada), B-lender loans. Of course, these types of loans may already seem familiar given that they, along with other private-label mortgage securities, played an integral role in the 2009 credit crisis…
Credit Card Interchange Fees Changes Announced
– ratesupermarket.ca
UPDATE: Visa and MasterCard have announced their proposals to reduce merchant interchange fees to an average of 1.5 per cent. Together, the two proposals will equal a 10 per cent reduction in processing fees for merchants. Canadian Minister of Finance, Joe Oliver, stated he was pleased with the actions taken, saying, “As a result of the voluntary proposals, there is no need for the Government to regulate the interchange rates set by the credit card networks.”
The proposals from Visa and MasterCard will:
Voluntarily reduce their respective credit card fees for consumer cards to an average effective rate of 1.50% for a period of five years.
Ensure that all merchants receive a reduction in credit card fees.
Provide a greater reduction for small and medium sized enterprises and charities, which have the least amount of bargaining power.
Require annual verification by an independent third party to ensure compliance.
The new fee structure will be implemented by April 2015. Currently, American Express is not participating in the voluntary reduction, though Oliver stated he was “pleased to see that American Express has committed to maintaining its current business model…
OTTAWA – Canadian food banks are wading into the hot political debate over how best the federal government can help families with kids: give them tax breaks, as the Conservatives are doing, or invest in regulated child care, as the NDP proposes.
In its annual HungerCount report, Food Banks Canada comes down squarely on the side of the NDP.
It says the use of food banks remains 25 per cent higher than it was before the devastating global recession in 2008 and that 37 per cent of those helped are children.
According to the report, almost half of the households helped are families with kids and nearly half of those are two-parent families.
Among other recommendations, the report says the federal government should replace “the current alphabet soup” of child tax benefits with a new child well-being benefit that targets the most vulnerable families.
And it calls on federal and provincial governments to invest in predictable, stable funding for affordable, regulated child care, enabling parents to enter or remain in the workforce…
In its annual HungerCount report, Food Banks Canada comes down squarely on the side of the NDP.
It says the use of food banks remains 25 per cent higher than it was before the devastating global recession in 2008 and that 37 per cent of those helped are children.
According to the report, almost half of the households helped are families with kids and nearly half of those are two-parent families.
Among other recommendations, the report says the federal government should replace “the current alphabet soup” of child tax benefits with a new child well-being benefit that targets the most vulnerable families.
And it calls on federal and provincial governments to invest in predictable, stable funding for affordable, regulated child care, enabling parents to enter or remain in the workforce…
Central banks have been printing money by the truckload to prop up their economies. How long can inflation remain at bay?The Roots of Government Meddling in Mortgages
– online.wsj.com
Federal Land Banks created in 1916 were the Fannie Mae model. They too went belly up.
