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The Canadian government continues to pressure banks  to ensure they keep consumer lending going.  The negative headlines from the US relative to credit certainly flow over into Canada and levels of Canadian consumer confidence. Canadians voice concerns over access to credit, Flaherty says | Globe and Mail TORONTO — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says consumers across the country are worried about access to credit. “We

In a coordinated move the Governor of the Bank of Canada (Carney) and the Federal Finance Minister (Flaherty) have come out using identical wording “It is not clear to me that they need additional capital buffers,” and insist that the banks turn lending back on, particularly for businesses who are having difficult finding access to lending from the Banks. Flahery warns Banks on lending | Globe and Mail “It is not cle

Niall Ferguson [Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the author of The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West.] offers analysis and conclusions on the world of financial services, and the historic lead up to the current financial crisis.  Wall Street Lays Another Egg | Vanity Fair The author c

The Canadian banks choose to rebel against the Government of Canada direction to reduce interest rates.  The Central Bank dropped rates by a half percentage point indicating concern about the economy and in an attempt to ease credit.  However the Canadian Banks are choosing to keep 50% of the drop for themselves.  Story at the Globe and Mail. Banks trim prime but lag BoC cut | Globe and Mail OTTAWA — Major Canadian b

The mainstream press do a good job of presenting quick quotes, and implying all kinds of dread and panic.  Its worth looking beyond the headline and some facts at the differences between the US situation and Canada. Future of Canada’s economy comes into question as TSX ends week of panic | Canadian Press The theme of the article is broadly the spillover effect of a slowing US economy, reduction in credit a

Confidence in financial institutions has been shaken, and the rules for regaining confidence are not clear.  Part of the reason that the road ahead is unclear, is because the rules have changed.  Its not uncommon for people to suggest that banks don’t ‘get it’, however in fairness to all concerned the new rules are not always clear. One side outcome from the financial headlines has been to

Today will be a bloodbath on the markets, following Sunday when we saw the end of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and a deepening crisis for AIG Insurance. Wall Street shaken by Lehman failure, Merrill sale | Globe and Mail NEW YORK — — Global markets plummeted on Monday after investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. [LEH-N] filed for bankruptcy protection, rival Merrill Lynch [MER-N]agreed to be taken over and

This additional quote from Nixon of RBC pretty much answers the question in our last post.  Credit crunch fallout will cast a long shadow “The days of cheap money are over,” said Gord Nixon, Royal Bank’s chief executive officer. If anyone would know, he would. … That means the banks’ own cost of money is likely to stay high. The credit crunch was a useful reminder to bankers of the

Canada’s leading bankers speak here about the state of the worlds financial markets and the banks who operate them.  The general theme is lack of stability and pricing of the markets.  I think its safe to assume that consumers can read pricing problems to mean higher charges or interest rates for them. World financial system in state of dysfunction: RBC’s Nixon | Globe and Mail CALGARY — The glo

Following up on our earlier post, here is the full summary of Bank results from the Globe and Mail. Canadian banks’ decline benign next to U.S – Globe and Mail Big Six report 21-per-cent drop in profits in past three days, but remain among highest-valued stocks in industry