Briefly:

Previous Brieflies this week: | MON | TUE | WED | <ahref=”” title=”” | <ahref=”” title=””>THU |

(November 30, 2006) The American subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco says it has purchased $9 billion US in retirement plan assets from U.S. Bank.

The agreement includes the transfer of nearly 1,900 daily valuation and balance-forward defined contribution plans, representing approximately 195,000 participants.

“This acquisition moves us significantly closer to our goal of becoming one of the top retirement plan providers in the United States,” says Raymond L. McFeetors, president and CEO of Great-West Lifeco. “It further enhances our presence in the corporate retirement plan marketplace, where we’ve earned a reputation as an innovative and growing player.”

McFeetors says Great-West will retain the U.S. Bank relationship managers, sales and client-service specialists, “so clients will transition to the Great-West platform with their service team intact.”

The deal is expected to close at the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.

• • •

Interest rates expected to hold firm

(November 30, 2006) The C.D. Howe Institute is calling on the Bank of Canada to hold interest rates steady at 4.25% when it meets on Tuesday. Eight of the nine members on C.D. Howe’s Monetary Policy Council have voted in favour of leaving the rate as it is.

The decision to hold rates steady was based on the panel’s concerns about indicators of incipient inflationary pressure on the one hand and, on the other, the current weakness in North American housing markets and building downward pressure on the manufacturing sector. The panel was divided over whether the slowdown and price declines in the U.S. housing market had run their course, which would point to a modestly positive outlook for the coming quarters.

Although core inflation (which excludes changes in energy prices) has risen above headline CPI, some members of the panel felt that impact of falling energy prices and the weakness in the manufacturing sector offset concerns that domestic inflation expectations are settling in above the Bank of Canada target of 2%.

Nicholas Rowe, economics professor at Carleton University, was the only dissenting voice on the panel. Rowe would like to see a 25 basis-point cut to the rate to 4%.

The Bank of Canada will make its next interest rate announce on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

• • •

NYSE and NASD to consolidate

(November 30, 2006) The NASD and the NYSE Group are planning to consolidate their regulatory operations into a new self-regulatory organization for all securities brokers and dealers in the U.S.

In a letter of intent filed earlier this week, the two regulators say the move is intended to eliminate overlapping regulation and reduce costs by “millions” a year to the industry. At the same time, the NASD and the NYSE say the merger will make securities industry oversight more consistent.

“NASD and NYSE Regulation recognize that world markets and regulation are changing,” said NASD chairman and CEO Mary Schapiro in a release. “This plan establishes a more sensible and less complex regulatory regime that makes private sector regulation more efficient and effective.”

The yet to be named SRO is expected to begin operations in Q2 2007. The new regulator will rely on the NASD current 2,400-person staff and approximately 470 of NYSE Regulation’s member regulation, arbitration and related enforcement team, and it will operate from Washington, D.C., New York and 18 district-and-dispute-resolution office locations around the U.S.

NYSE Regulation’s CEO Richard Ketchum will serve as the non-executive chairman of the new SRO for a three-year transition period while Schapiro will serve as CEO of the combined organization. Ketchum will retain his title as CEO of NYSE Regulation.

NYSE Regulation will continue to oversee market surveillance and listed company compliance at the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Arca. The new SRO, meanwhile, will be responsible for regulatory oversight of securities firms, arbitration and for the professional training, testing and licensing of registered representatives, and of industry utilities like NASD’s Alternative Display Facility, OTC Bulletin Board and Trade Reporting Facility.

Currently, NASD regulates more than 5,100 securities firms throughout the United States, almost 200 of which are also members of the NYSE.

Once the transition is complete, each NASD member firm will receive a one-time payment of $35,000 in recognition of anticipated cost savings that will result from the implementation of the plan. Certain member fees also will be reduced for a period of five years.

• • •

President of TSXV to retire

(November 30, 2006) Kevan Cowan, senior vice-president of the TSX Venture Exchange and VP, business development, for the TSX Group, has been tapped to succeed TSXV president Linda Hohol when she retires in April 2007.

Cowan will be the first new face to head the TSXV. Hohol has held the position since the Toronto Stock Exchange acquired the Canadian Venture Exchange in 2001 and renamed it the TSXV a year later.

When Cowan takes over as president, he will be responsible for building Canada’s junior exchange while managing the regulatory model governing public issues in the market.

TSXV has nearly tripled in size to 2,800 during Hohol’s tenure. As of the end of October, the TSXV had raised more than $6.4 billion in new equity financing. Over the same time period, 54 issuers graduated to Toronto Stock Exchange, up 50% over the same period in 2005.

• • •

(11/30/06)