The United States House of Representatives voted against the planned US$700 billion bailout package on Monday afternoon, sending markets sharply lower. The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 840.93 points, or 6.9%, while the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 777.68 points, or 7%. Those were the biggest one-day point losses ever for both indexes, but smaller on […]
Lawmakers in the United States were able to reach an agreement over the weekend regarding details of the US$700 billion plan to buy up distressed mortgage assets from banks. Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Treasury Department will immediately receive $250 billion to start purchasing those assets. If needed, an additional $100 […]
The plan to use up to US$700 billion of American taxpayers’ money to buy up troubled assets from financial institutions is up in the air after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement. Negotiations fell apart after Republicans came up with a competing plan on Thursday. The talks are expected to resume on Friday […]
Canadian organizations are relying on variable compensation— performance-related rewards that must be re-earned each year and do not increase base salary—and perquisites to attract, retain, incent and reward key employees, according to Hewitt Associates. Its 30th annual Canada Salary Increase Survey finds that because the supply of workers with special skills or training (such as […]
In testimony before the United States Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, both Treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke urged lawmakers to move quickly and approve a plan to buy troubled assets from financial institutions. “We must do so in order to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen […]
The Pan-Canadian Investors Committee for Third-Party Structured ABCP has commenced the final steps to implement its plan to restructure $32-billion of third-party asset-backed commercial paper that has been frozen since August 2007. The announcement follows the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on Friday to deny leave to appeal by a small group of corporate investors […]
The United States government took action Friday to prevent the credit crisis from worsening by temporarily banning the short selling of financial companies and creating a temporary guaranty program for the U.S. money market mutual fund industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), acting in concert with the U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA), will prohibit […]
First, Lehman Brothers’ stock tanked and then AIG. Now, shares of asset managers like State Street, Bank of New York Mellon and Northern Trust went on a wild ride Thursday because of worries about money market fund redemptions. The Reserve Primary Fund, the oldest money market fund in the United States, said earlier this week […]
The United States Federal Reserve, in conjunction with some of the world’s largest central banks, injected US$180 billion into the markets on Thursday in an attempt to improve liquidity and try and keep the credit crisis from claiming more victims. The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal […]
The United States Federal Reserve Board came to AIG’s rescue late Tuesday evening by authorizing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend up to US$85 billion to the insurance company. In exchange, the U.S. government will own 79.9% of AIG. “The board determined that, in current circumstances, a disorderly failure of AIG could […]