Tausi Insider

Sam Bankman-Fried chief executive of FTX, a crypto derivatives exchange that offers products unavailable to traders in the U.S., sits in the company's offices in Hong Kong, on May, 26, 2021. LAM YIK FEI/The New York Times News Service Adam Chisholm is a partner and group head of the complex disputes and regulatory regimes group at McMillan LLP and has experience in securities regulatory and administrative law. The views expressed are his own. Is bitcoin a security? A commodity? Something else? These simple questions have traditionally not had simple answers, even in places where there are modern securities laws. There is one difference between jurisdictions around the world, however. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) – Canada’s de facto chief regulator, given the province’s status as a financial centre – has chosen to align with the United States in taking zealous enforcement action against cryptocurrency trading platforms. The recent implosion of the US$32-billion-dollar, ...

Deal making activity slowed further in Canada during the third quarter, continuing a downtrend trend driven by rising interest rates and volatile market conditions, though experts are counting on a rebound in 2023. A total of 684 merger and acquisition transactions were announced between the start of July and the end of September, according to the latest Canadian M&A report from specialty investment bank Crosbie & Co. released Wednesday, representing the third straight quarterly decline. Transactions fell by one-third from the recent high achieved in the first quarter of 2021, when more than 1,000 deals were announced, although the latest decline in transactions was offset by several mega-deals worth more than $1-billion. Aggregate deal value increased to $63-billion in the third quarter, up 16 per cent from the second quarter, largely as a result of 14 mega-deals announced during the latest period. Fully one-third of that total came from just two transactions: refining giant...

The Canadian Association of Energy Contractors is forecasting a 15-per-cent bump in overall activity next year, but the industry continues to face challenges when it comes to crewing rigs and retaining workers. Todd Korol/Tausi Insider Canada’s energy services sector is forecasting a modest turnaround in activity next year after seven years of stagnation, but continues to face challenges when it comes to crewing rigs and retaining workers. As the country ramps up efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) is calling for a 50-per-cent federal tax credit to help the industry roll out greener rigs and other technology to help reduce its carbon footprint. While oil and gas producers have enjoyed windfall profits this year thanks to sky-high commodity prices, the services sector that supports the industry is lagging behind. Far from the highs of 2014, president and chief executive of CAOEC Mark Scholz says, most of his members – the w...

TD Bank Group says it paused the MyMoney lending program it recently launched with Canada Post. Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press TD Bank Group TD-T says it paused the MyMoney lending program it recently launched with Canada Post after it detected suspicious activity on its system. Spokeswoman Amy Thompson says processing was affected when the bank’s security system noticed “early warning signs of irregular activities” and the bank decided to pause the program to investigate. She says it is disappointing that “bad actors” tried to take advantage of the lending program, officially launched Oct. 12, that is meant to expand access to loans through the partnership with Canada Post. Thompson says the bank, which is in charge of running the program, hopes to reopen applications as soon as it feels it is appropriate. The program, offering loans of between $1,000 and $30,000 at variable interest rates currently ranging from about 10 and 20 per cent, is designed to fill a gap between payday l...

Canadian economic activity expanded at a faster pace in November and a measure of price pressures cooled, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data showed on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted index rose to 51.4 in November from 50.1 in October. The Ivey PMI measures the month to month variation in economic activity as indicated by a panel of purchasing managers from across Canada. A reading above 50 indicates an increase in activity. The gauge of employment dipped to an adjusted 54.3 from 54.6 in October, while the prices index was at 63.5, down from 69.8. The unadjusted PMI edged up to 51.5 from 51.4. https://www.tausiinsider.com/canadian-economic-activity-expanded-at-faster-pace-in-november-ivey-pmi-shows/?feed_id=330436&_unique_id=644b447454db2

Alfred E. Neuman, the legendary figurehead for Mad Magazine, was best known for his phrase, “What, me worry?” You may want to adopt that motto. Consultant Kevin Eikenberry argues that worrying is folly. But most of us do, in fact, worry and we often believe it’s helpful. He sets out some of the benefits we perceive: Worrying might prevent negative events from happening, it reduces our guilt because we are doing something, it gets us thinking about the problem, it shows we care, and it can keep us from being surprised should the fear come true. He adds on LinkedIn one reason we might not want to admit: “We worry because we worry, even if we aren’t sure why.” But how many of those justifications make sense? How many would change the outcome? His review of the research on worry finds, depending on the study, that between 85 and 92 per cent of our worries never come true. Worrying, he sums up, “makes you feel bad, raises your stress and worsens your mood. This activity rarely can change...

Efforts by Canada’s financial intelligence agency over the last three years uncovered activity related to homegrown terrorism, the bankrolling of international terrorist groups and attempts by Canadians to take part in extremism abroad. Those three main themes emerge from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada’s review of its intelligence disclosures to police and security agencies from January 2019 to October 2022 related to the funding of terrorist activity. The federal centre, known as Fintrac, is drawing on the analysis to help banks and others that handle large sums to better spot shady transactions linked to terrorism. For instance, Fintrac says in a newly published operational alert, transaction details might include references to words, phrases or numbers linked to violent extremist groups or symbols. The centre zeroes in on cash linked to terrorism, money laundering and other crimes by sifting through data from banks, insurance companies, securities...

A sold sign is seen outside a home in Ottawa in this file photo. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Canada’s national real estate association is forecasting another year of housing market declines, after home prices sank for the 10th straight month in December and as households continue to struggle with higher borrowing costs. The home price index fell to $730,600 last month, a 1.6-per-cent drop from November and 13 per cent lower than the February peak. That marks the largest downward swing since the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, when the index fell 9 per cent. It also tops the 7-per-cent slide in 2018, when the federal government toughened up mortgage qualifications. (The index excludes sales of extremely expensive homes and is the industry’s preferred measure of home prices.) Home resales increased from November to December but were still 39 per cent below the volume of activity of December, 2021, when the pandemic’s real estate boom was in full swing. The Canadian Real Estate As...

A sold sign is seen outside a home in Ottawa in this file photo. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Canada’s national real estate association is forecasting another year of housing market declines, after home prices sank for the 10th straight month in December and as households continue to struggle with higher borrowing costs. The home price index fell to $730,600 last month, a 1.6-per-cent drop from November and 13 per cent lower than the February peak. That marks the largest downward swing since the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, when the index fell 9 per cent. It also tops the 7-per-cent slide in 2018, when the federal government toughened up mortgage qualifications. (The index excludes sales of extremely expensive homes and is the industry’s preferred measure of home prices.) Home resales increased from November to December but were still 39 per cent below the volume of activity of December, 2021, when the pandemic’s real estate boom was in full swing. The Canadian Real Estate As...

There were some encouraging signs U.S. inflation pressures and labor shortages were easing, a Federal Reserve report showed on Wednesday, but economic activity was tepid as the central bank’s actions weigh on growth. Five of the Fed’s districts reported slight or modest increases in overall economic activity over the last several weeks, while six noted no change or slight declines from the previous reporting period, and one cited a significant decline, the U.S. central bank said. The Fed released its latest survey on the health of the economy derived from business contacts nationwide after a slew of recent data raised hopes that too-high inflation is on a sustainable path downwards, with wage increases moderating and a scramble for available workers lessening somewhat. But that is twinned with the cost of such action as the Fed tries to dampen demand across the economy. “On balance, contacts generally expected little growth in the months ahead,” the Fed said in its survey, known as t...