Browse "Business & Economics"

WHEN JACK DZIERWA, a relative newcomer to Bay Street, wrote about bank mergers in a research report last July, he broached a subject still too sticky for some to want to discuss.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on November 18, 2002

Martin is ready to table legislation as early as February to make it easier for foreign banks to open branches here. They are now required to set up Canadian subsidiaries with enough assets to back up any deposits they take in at Canadian branches.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on December 28, 1998

Bank of British Columbia, a bank chartered in 1966 with headquarters in Vancouver. In 1986 it had 1410 employees and maintained branches in BC and Alberta, as well as offices in the Cayman Islands, the US and Hong Kong. Assets in 1986 were $2.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) is the country’s central bank, a financial institution that provides banking services on behalf of the federal government. Its operations include four principal functions: to manage the country’s money supply; to act as the federal government’s agent in issuing its bonds and managing its holdings of foreign currencies; to manage various monetary policies that can influence the performance of the economy, such as interest rates; and to manage the overall financial industry in Canada and economic relations with other countries and international organizations. The Bank of Canada’s headquarters are in Ottawa.

The Bank of Montreal was founded in 1817, making it Canada’s oldest incorporated bank. From its founding to the creation of the Bank of Canada in 1935, the Bank of Montreal served as Canada’s central bank. Today, the various components of the Bank of Montreal are collectively known as BMO Financial Group. BMO is Canada’s fourth largest bank by assets, and the eighth largest in North America. It offers services in three distinct areas — personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking. BMO is a public company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMO. In 2021, BMO registered $27.19 billion in revenue and $7.75 billion in profit and held $988.18 billion in assets. BMO employs more than 43,863 people who serve more than 8 million customers across Canada.

The Bank of Nova Scotia, commonly referred to as “Scotiabank,” is Canada’s third largest chartered bank. Incorporated in 1832, the bank has established itself as Canada’s most international bank through extensive operations throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America and parts of Asia. It is also known as “Canada’s gold bank” because of its dominant position in bullion trading. The bank also operates three other business lines: personal banking, commercial banking, and wealth management. Scotiabank is a public company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BNS and on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange under the symbol SBTT. In 2021, Scotiabank registered $31.25 billion in revenue and $9.96 billion in profit and held $1.18 trillion in assets. The bank employs more than 90,000 people, who serve more than 25 million customers around the world.

The Bank of Nova Scotia is located on Hollis Street across from Halifax's most iconic structure, Province House. Extremely sensitive to the location, Lyle felt it was important to echo some of the latter building's classical features.

Bank of Upper Canada, chartered 21 April 1821, commenced operations at York (Toronto) July 1822. It owed its origins to pressure from the commercial community, to close links with the Family Compact, and to the local government's hope that a bank would provide it with sorely needed capital.

The bank rate is the minimum interest rate charged by the Bank of Canada in its role as lender of last resort on short-term loans to the chartered banks and other members of the Canadian Payments Association that maintain deposits with the Bank, as well as to investment dealers.

Banking is a financial process carried out by an institution that accepts deposits, lends money and transfers funds. Canada's major banks play a vital role in the economy and today also engage in the insurance, trust and securities markets. Their business, the technology surrounding it and the regulations that govern it, have evolved continuously over the centuries.

Bankruptcy is a legal process, governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, that provides financial relief for debtors and a protection for creditors.

Barter is the exchange of one commodity or service for another without the use of money as a medium of exchange. A barter agreement (also called "countertrade") among countries calls for the exchange of stated amounts of goods.

Baton Broadcasting Incorporated was a diversified Canadian communications company.

BC Hydro and Power Authority (BC Hydro), a provincial Crown corportation is the third-largest electric utility in Canada.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on 8 March 1999. Partner content is not updated. George Petty is a plain-speaking guy, not prone to superlatives. So when he told Telus Corp. shareholders last April that he wanted to turn the Alberta telecommunications company into one of the world’s "premier communications" firms, he was not bluffing.