Skip to main content
streetwise newsletter

Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours:

The curious case on Toronto’s Bay Street: $500,000 Super Bowl pot goes missing: Two days before the game, word started to spread: The pot had gone missing. Every year around the Super Bowl, Bay Street stock traders and their friends participate in a high-stakes pool. Run by an old-school floor trader from the Toronto Stock Exchange, the private gambling affair is highly exclusive, and entry is open only to those with the right connections. Given the clientele, it is no pedestrian affair. A hundred slots are up for grabs at $5,000 a piece − payable in cash. The total pot is $500,000. Story (Tim Kiladze and Andrew Willis, for subscribers)

Morgan Stanley is buying Calgary’s Solium Capital for $1.1-billion: U.S. financial services giant Morgan Stanley is buying Calgary-based Solium Capital Inc. for $1.1-billion in the latest deal that will wrest a sizable technology player from Canadian control. The friendly transaction represents Morgan Stanley’s largest acquisition since the financial crisis in 2008, and allows it to meld its corporate wealth-management business with Solium’s software, used for administering employee stock-based compensation plans around the world. Story (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)

Cycle Capital hits first close of what it’s hoping will be largest cleantech fund in Canada: Montreal-based Cycle Capital Management Inc. has raised more than $100-million for what it hopes will be Canada’s largest private sector venture capital fund in clean technology – giving a boost to a sector that still relies largely on government support. Cycle Capital says it had amassed $109-million, with the goal of reaching between $150-million and $250-million for its fourth North American fund, targeting startups that specialize in areas such as green chemistry, biomass conversion, renewable energy, energy storage and efficiency and sustainable agriculture. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)

Former finance minister, ambassador and businessman Michael Wilson dies at 81: Michael Wilson, a former federal finance minister and stalwart of Canadian business who overcame personal tragedy in later life to become an advocate for mental-health support, has died at 81. Under prime minister Brian Mulroney, Mr. Wilson helped negotiate the North American free-trade agreement and brought in the federal goods and services tax, initiatives that were controversial at the time, but have survived to become pillars of federal policy. Story (Tim Kiladze and Eric Andrew-Gee)

Who’s afraid of open banking?: The deadline for consultations on the merits and risks of “open banking” was Monday. So, we ask: Who’s afraid of open banking? Consumers? Maybe. The big five banks? Probably. Regulators? Definitely. There are certainly reasons to pursue open banking, where new service providers can access customer data from the financial industry to offer more competitive and more innovative financial products. Opinion (Thorsten Koeppl and Jeremy Kronick, for subscribers)

Regulators grapple with rapid change in the financial-services sector: The speed and scope of change in the financial-services sector is unprecedented. Regulators are trying to wrap their minds around what’s happening. The future of cash, the need for bank intermediaries, the role of paper currencies, and fundamental notions of data privacy and bookkeeping are all in play. In the competition for customers, the tension between new players and old is not unusual. Opinion (Barry Campbell)

MORE FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS

Insurance: The B.C. government is going to try and contain financial losses at its Crown-owned auto insurance corporation by reducing the use of experts in accident lawsuits. Story

The Streetwise newsletter is Tuesday to Saturday. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Streetwise and all Globe newsletters on our signup page.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe