Industry

S&P employees mocked company ahead of collapse

Standard & Poor’s employees mocked the company ahead of the 2008 global financial crisis, according to internal communications cited in the U.S. Justice Department’s complaints against S&P and its parent company, McGraw-Hill Cos. The employees joked about the company’s willingness to rate deals “structured by cows” and sang and danced to a song inspired by […]

By Wire services |February 5, 2013

1 min read

Barclays allocates $1.6bn to pay penalties

Barclays has decided to create a $1.6 billion reserve to fund legal costs of scandals related to mis-selling financial products. The Financial Services Authority recently ordered Britain’s four big banks to review their sales of interest rate hedging products, forcing Barclays, one of the four, to double the money set aside for potential payouts, reports […]

By Staff |February 5, 2013

1 min read

Securities industry healthy in Q3 2012

The Canadian securities industry posted a 7.5% year-over-year increase in annual return in Q3 2012, reports the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC). While commissions were down overall 12.4%, mutual fund commissions were up 4.3%. Meanwhile, operating revenue increased 7.7% year-over-year and expenses were down 1.6%. Read the full report.

By Staff |February 5, 2013

1 min read

2012 a strong year for active management

Although it was not an easy ride in 2012, large cap managers posted their strongest benchmark-relative performance in a decade, according to Russell Investments. The median return was 9.4%, more than 2% ahead of the S&P/TSX Composite Index’s return of 7.2%. Using annual returns, 76% of large cap managers beat the benchmark in 2012 compared […]

By Staff |February 5, 2013

3 min read