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Montreal financier Earl Jones pleaded not guilty this afternoon to four charges of fraud and theft.

Quebec’s financial securities regulator alleged earlier this month Jones may have swindled investors out of between $30 million and $50 million.

Jones’s lawyer Jeffrey Boro is seeking bail for his client, who was taken into custody on Monday. He disappeared about three weeks ago.

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CIBC changes insurance and estate planning teams

CIBC has announced that Marybeth Jordan has moved to CIBC Investor Services Inc. (ISI) to lead the Investor’s Edge business and ISI Contact Centres in both Toronto and Montreal.

Previously, Jordon was the executive director of the product group.

As a result of Jordon’s move to ISI, the insurance and estate planning teams will now report directly to Babs Fletcher, executive director with CIBC Wood Gundy.

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U.S. consumers remain pessimistic

Overall, consumers remain quite pessimistic about the short-term economic outlook, according to the Conference Board’s July 2009 Consumer Confidence Survey.

Data from July’s Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index showed that the percentage of consumers anticipating an improvement in business conditions over the next six months decreased to 18.0% from 20.9%.

The index, which had retreated in June, declined further in July. The index now stands at 46.6 (1985=100), down from 49.3 in June. The “present situation index” dropped to 23.4% from 25.0% last month. The “expectations index” declined to 62.0% from 65.5% in June.

“Consumer confidence, which had rebounded strongly in late spring, has faded in the last two months,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “The decline in the present situation index was caused primarily by a worsening job market, as the percentage of consumers claiming that jobs are hard to get rose sharply.” In July, those claiming jobs are hard to get increased to 48.1% from 44.8%.

Franco noted that the decline in the expectation index reflects the increasing number of consumers who do not expect changes in business and labour market conditions, as opposed to an increase in the percentage of consumers expecting conditions to deteriorate further.

In July, consumers were still weary of a recovery. Those saying business conditions are “bad” increased to 46.3% from 45.3%; however, those saying conditions are “good” increased to 9.1% from 8.1%.

The labour market outlook was also mixed. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead fell to 15.0% from 17.5%; however, those expecting fewer jobs decreased to 26.3% from 27.6%.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households.

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Jovian closes acquisition of 50% Hahn stake

Jovian Asset Management Inc. has completed the acquisition of 50% of the issued and outstanding shares of Hahn Investment Stewards & Company Inc.

Hahn builds and manages globally diversified portfolios for its clients using exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“We are very pleased to have acquired a substantial stake in Hahn. This acquisition will strengthen our powerful position in the ETF business,” said Philip Armstrong, CEO of Jovian. “With our investments in BetaPro Management Inc., AlphaPro Management Inc. and now Hahn, we are well positioned to build on our substantial ETF platform with approximately $2.4 billion of assets under management.”

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Wellington calls for review of Nortel’s LTE sale

Venture financier Wellington Financial LP issued a statement today asking the federal government to consider the benefit of selling Nortel Networks’ Long Term Evolution (LTE) assets to Sweden’s LM Ericsson.

“Under the Investment Canada Act, Industry Minister Tony Clement must be satisfied that any foreign acquisition must be of ‘net benefit to Canada,'”said Mark McQueen, president and CEO of Wellington Financial LP. “It remains unclear if Ericsson’s proposed acquisition of Nortel’s crown jewel meets this test, and many of us in the Canadian venture capital industry hope that the minister will consider the issue carefully when it hits his desk.”

McQueen said the acquisition of Nortel’s LTE technology is of national importance. He added that if Waterloo’s Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is willing to pay top dollar for the assets, both Nortel’s creditors and the country would be better served by accepting the RIM offer.

(07/28/09)