Canadian regulators are seeking a record settlement amount of $400 million from a number of brokerages for their involvement with the asset-back commercial paper (ABCP) debacle, reports the National Post.
Sources say the reason for the unprecedented sum is that the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee and the Investment Industry Regulatory Agency of Canada (IIROC) intend to use some of the settlement to compensate investors who lost significant amounts in the leveraged product.
The settlement is being sought on behalf of 36 investors who were into ABCP for $1.6 to $170 million.
Currently, securities commissions in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, as well as the IIROC, are engaged in settlement talks with a number of brokerages—most of them bank-owned.
The firms that have received enforcement letters from regulators include the National Bank Financial, CIBC World Markets and Scotia Capital, which is owned by Bank of Nova Scotia.
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OMERS names new CIO
Michael Latimer has been appointed executive vice-president and chief investment officer (CIO) with OMERS, starting Jan. 1, 2010.
Currently, Latimer is the president and CEO of Oxford Properties.
Latimer is already a five-year member of OMERS’ senior management team and the executive committee that reviews all major public and private market investment proposals. As CIO, he will be responsible for overall leadership of and collaboration among the OMERS investment entities that manage public equities, fixed income securities, private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets.