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(August 14, 2007) The Canadian Revenue Agency has plans to audit more than 50,000 individuals who have participated in tax shelter gifting arrangements. These audits will be in addition to the 46,000 completed or ongoing audits on Canadians.

The CRA says that it will audit every tax shelter gifting arrangement. The agency says new schemes are being marketed that claim to be different from those for which the CRA has already issued warnings and is urging taxpayers to avoid all schemes that promise donation receipts equal to three or four times the cash payment.

Already, the CRA has denied $1.4 billion in claimed donations from 26,000 completed audits and says it will soon recover $550 million from another 20,000 audits near completion.

“If it sounds too good to be true, don’t fall for it. Taxpayers need to know that the Canada Revenue Agency is auditing all tax shelter gifting arrangements,” says Carol Skelton, Minister of National Revenue. “Under the new Taxpayer Bill of Rights, you can expect the CRA to provide information to help you recognize the types of tax schemes that are out there, and to warn you about the consequences of participating in risky investments.”

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MF Global denies exposure to embattled hedge fund manager

(August 14, 2007) MF Global (formerly Man Financial) says that it has no exposure to institutional money manager Sentinel Management Group, which is sought to freeze a wave of redemptions plaguing some of its funds.

On Tuesday, the Illinois-based Sentinel applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the U.S. to allow it to halt investors from withdrawing money from some of its funds.

MF Global denied it has any involvement with the company and has been working to ensure its investor money is protected from credit risk and market jitters.

“One of the key components of our risk management is daily assessments of credit and counterparty risk, as well as general market trends. This approach allows us to anticipate potential issues such as the events at Sentinel,” the company wrote in a statement. “MF Global continually takes proactive and prudent action to ensure that its capital, and that of its clients, is held at clearing houses or at the world’s largest banking institutions. This approach provides security in all types of market conditions, including the volatility we have seen of late.

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Jovian promoted to TSX big board

(August 14, 2007) Jovian Capital Corporation announced on Tuesday that it has received conditional approval for listing of its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Subject to fulfilling the conditions, Jovian expects to be trading on the TSX by mid-September 2007 under the new symbol “JOV.”

In addition to the listing promotion, Jovian says that at its annual meeting held on August 9 in Toronto, shareholders elected the slate of directors as proposed by Jovian management.

The following incumbent directors were re-elected to the board: Donald Penny (chair), Philip Armstrong, Melvin MacRae, Patrick Matthews, John McKimm, Derek Nelson and Thomas Rice.

The shareholders also elected a new outside director: Richard Hallisey. Hallisey has nearly 30 years of experience in the investment industry, including more than 20 as a director and a Canadian investment dealer.

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Montreal Exchange fines “off exchange” trader

(August 14, 2007) A former Montreal trader has been fined $35,000 by the Montreal Exchange for trading listed securities outside a market’s open trading session.

While working as a trader for Canaccord Capital Corporation, Marc Beaudoin conducted an off-exchange transaction involving 500,000 Jitec Inc. shares, for a total value of $2,600,000. As the shares of Jitec Inc. were then listed on the Montreal Exchange, the transaction should have taken place during a trading session.

In addition to the $35,000 fine, Beaudoin, who is no longer employed in the securities industry, has also been ordered to pay $10,595 to cover the Montreal Exchange’s cost to conduct the investigation.

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Social Index’s July growth trails TSX indexes

(August 14, 2007) Socially conscious investors failed to outpace their indifferent counterparts in July. Jantzi Social Index decreased in value by 0.15% during the month of July 2007, according to Jantzi Research, which oversees the index. For the same period, the S&P/TSX Composite Index and the S&P/TSX 60 Index decreased by 0.13% and increased 0.08% respectively.

Jantzi says that overall, though, the JSI has outperformed the TSX benchmarks. From its inception on January 1, 2000, through July 31, 2007, the JSI achieved an annualized return of 9.04%, while the S&P/TSX Composite and the S&P/TSX 60 had annualized returns of 8.68% and 8.31% respectively, over the same period.

Jantzi attributes much of the fund’s July shortfall against the TSX to an underweighting in the materials sector.

(08/14/07)