Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
Low valuations aren’t a good enough reason to bet big on bank stocks: Canadian bank stocks have rebounded over the past six weeks after touching their lowest valuations since the financial crisis. But an enduring recovery rests on profit and revenue growth over the year ahead, and the outlook here is murky at best. Story (David Berman, for subscribers)
Quadriga can’t access $190-million following CEO’s death, court filings show: Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga CX has been unable to locate and access about $190-million worth of cryptocurrency, which includes bitcoin and Ethereum, since co-founder and sole director Gerald Cotten, 30, died on Dec. 9. Mr. Cotten was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 24 and passed away due to complications from the condition while travelling in India, according to court documents. Story (Joe Castaldo and Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Crypto exchange Quadriga files for CCAA: Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange says it has applied for creditor protection as it seeks to address “significant financial issues” that have prevented it from being able to serve its customers. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Deutsche Bank’s decade-long turnaround effort still hasn’t paid off: Deutsche Bank’s role was to befit its status as the top bank in Europe’s top economy. It was supposed to be the Mercedes-Benz of German lenders – well-built, dependable, respected, competitive, internationally famous, the flag-bearer for mighty Corporate Germany. It was to be the prime financier of the country’s export-oriented economy, while holding its own among the Wall Street giants. Opinion (Eric Reguly, for subscribers)
Cannabis lifestyle company Weekend Unlimited wins POT ticker symbol lottery: Weekend Unlimited Inc., a Vancouver-based cannabis lifestyle company with global ambitions, thought it had slim odds when it tossed its name in the hat for the coveted POT ticker symbol. “That disbelief makes it even more exhilarating. Once we got the notice that we actually won the lottery, it felt like we won the lottery," chief executive officer Paul Chu joked in an interview Thursday. "I was very surprised.” Story (Alexandra Posadzki and David Milstead, for subscribers)
Analysts keeping watchful eye on corporate borrowing: Credit-rating agencies are keeping a watchful eye on Canadian banks' commercial-loan books after eight consecutive years of rapid growth. Commercial lending has been an increasingly important source of new revenue for the banks as rising interest rates and stricter mortgage rules have led to slower growth in consumer borrowing. Story (James Bradshaw and Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Open Text announces $75-million deal to buy Colorado legal-tech company: Open Text Corp. keeps adding to its war chest even as it continues a string of smaller acquisitions – bolstered Thursday when the company announced it would buy Colorado legal-tech company Catalyst Repository Systems Inc. The deal is worth US$75-million in cash. But the Waterloo, Ont.-based software company’s chief executive, Mark Barrenechea, told The Globe and Mail that the company has another US$2-billion ready to deploy when the time was right, thanks in part to nearly US$600-million of cash and equivalents on hand, and an adjusted earnings-before-interest-tax-depreciation-and-amortization margin of 42 per cent. Story (Josh O’Kane, for subscribers)
Likely construction delays will mean Ottawa overpaid for Trans Mountain, PBO says: Parliament’s spending watchdog Yves Giroux warned there is a high risk that delays and cost overruns will mean the Liberal government overpaid when it spent $4.4-billion last year to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline, its related expansion project and other assets. In a report released Thursday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates the value of the Trans Mountain pipeline and the expansion project at between $3.6-billion and $4.6-billion. Story (Bill Curry, for subscribers)
Brookfield to acquire Australia’s Healthscope in $4-billion deal: Australian hospital operator Healthscope Ltd said on Friday it had recommended a A$4.35-billion ($4.1-billion) takeover offer from Canadian investment firm Brookfield, taking its shares to an eight-month high. Story
Iamgold shares rally amid gold-sector consolidation: Shares of Iamgold Corp. have soared amid speculation it could be the next gold miner to be acquired after two huge takeovers among the world’s biggest gold companies brought the sector back to life. Story (Rachelle Younglai and Niall McGee, for subscribers)
David Garofalo to leave Goldcorp after company merger, Newmont CEO says: Goldcorp Inc. chief executive David Garofalo will leave once the company completes its merger with Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp., says the man who engineered the deal. Mr. Garofalo’s fate had been a question mark ever since Newmont and Vancouver-based Goldcorp announced their US$10-billion union on Jan. 14. Story (David Milstead, for subscribers)
Regulators increase pressure on provinces, territories to crack down on financial adviser fraud: Investment regulators are putting more pressure on provinces and territories to pass laws that crack down on financial adviser fraud. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA), which oversee registered investment dealers, mutual-fund firms and financial advisers, are seeking greater legal powers from provincial and territorial governments to collect fines and investigate crimes against investors. Story (Clare O’Hara, for subscribers)
SEC, OSC take aim at abusive short-selling: Securities watchdogs in North America are taking a closer look at the practices of short-sellers amid pressure from the business, legal and investment communities for a response to a series of high-profile attacks against public companies. Story (Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)
With eyes on an IPO, Montreal’s Lightspeed POS launches its payments system: Montreal software firm Lightspeed POS Inc. is set to file next month to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange on the heels of Wednesday’s launch of a long-awaited payments service for its tens of thousands of customers. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
TD’s Bharat Masrani on managing through chaos and his bank’s bright future: Bankers like predictability, and a few things have stayed unchanged since late in 2014, when Bharat Masrani became the first person of colour to run a major Canadian bank. At the time, TD was the second-largest bank in Canada, and it remains so. Masrani’s unassuming middle-management wardrobe eschewed flashy cufflinks then, and his shirts continue to be buttoned at the wrists. And more than four years after his newsmaking ascendance, Masrani is still the only example of diversity at the top of Canadian banking. Aside from all of that, things look very different. ROB Magazine (for subscribers)
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