Craig Sebastiano

Industry teams up with charity, government, to promote financial literacy

Some of Canada’s largest companies in the financial industry have teamed up with charity Prosper Canada and the City of Toronto to offer free financial coaching programs to low-income residents.

By Craig Sebastiano |June 25, 2015

2 min read

Industry

Specialty ETFs let you invest like Buffett, Icahn

Want to invest like a billionaire? Or in a booming city? Highly specialized thematic ETFs let you do just that.

By Craig Sebastiano |May 28, 2015

2 min read

Economic Indicators

Ottawa provides more support to credit markets

On Wednesday morning, the Government of Canada and the Bank of Canada both announced additional measures to keep credit flowing in this country. The government plans to purchase up to $50 billion more of insured mortgage pools by the end of the fiscal year as part of its efforts to maintain the availability of longer-term […]

By Craig Sebastiano |November 12, 2008

2 min read

Industry

Manulife expects $250M charge

Manulife Financial expects to take a charge of about $250 million in the third quarter due to credit losses. That includes approximately $50 million due to reserve strengthening as a result of credit downgrades. Despite these charges, the insurance company says asset quality remains very high. “Due to generalized spread widening, the gross unrealized losses […]

By Craig Sebastiano |October 14, 2008

1 min read

Industry

Court upholds ABCP ruling

The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court’s approval of the third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) restructuring plan. In its decision, the Court of Appeal said it “ought not to interfere” in the decision “that the plan is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances.” Since June 5 — when the Ontario Superior […]

By Craig Sebastiano |August 19, 2008

2 min read

Industry

BCE deal seen closing in Q3

Clients still holding BCE stock will be happy with Friday’s news, after the Supreme Court of Canada sided with shareholders in the proposed takeover of the telephone operator. The consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan now expects to complete the privatization of BCE Inc. sometime in the third quarter of this year. It […]

By Craig Sebastiano |June 23, 2008

2 min read

Industry

Leave to appeal granted in Kerry case

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal in the Elaine Nolan, et al. v. Kerry (Canada) et al. case. Plaintiffs had sought leave to appeal last year’s decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which is now open to reconsideration by the Supreme Court. In June, the Court of Appeal ruled that […]

By Craig Sebastiano |January 31, 2008

2 min read

Industry

A bumpy ride

It has been a record-breaking year for the markets in 2006. The S&P/TSX Composite Index and the Dow Jones both topped 12,000 for the first time ever; oil’s gone from $60 a barrel to a record $78 and back down again; gold hit a 26-year high of $732 an ounce; and income trusts fell out […]

By Craig Sebastiano |December 22, 2006

3 min read