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Here are the top reads on financial services and deals the past 24 hours

TRANS MOUNTAIN

Selling Trans Mountain to private sector is Ottawa’s ‘long-term preference,’ Morneau says

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau says Ottawa is not seeking to make a profit when it sells the Trans Mountain pipeline, and is instead focused on his government’s goal of making sure the controversial expansion is actually built. Story (Kelly Cryderman and Jeff Lewis)

If Ottawa wants a Trans Mountain buyer, it will need to start building

If the Prime Minister can duplicate his grandfather’s track record, taxpayers will do just fine out of the Trans Mountain deal. But Mr. Trudeau needs to get his timing right. Opinion (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)

Boutique bank Greenhill wins mandate for federal government’s acquisition, sale of Trans Mountain

Boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co. flexed its financing muscle by stepping up as the sole adviser to the federal government on its $4.5-billion acquisition of the Trans Mountain pipeline project from Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)

FINANCIAL SERVICES WRAP

Bank earnings: Bank of Montreal is continuing its drive to get leaner, recording a $260-million pretax restructuring charge even as profit from its core operations rose sharply in recent months. Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)

Bank earnings: National Bank of Canada raised its quarterly dividend as it reported its second-quarter profit improved more than 10 per cent compared with a year ago and beat expectations. Story

CFO news: Bank of Nova Scotia’s chief financial officer, Sean McGuckin, is taking a leave of absence to attend to a family illness. Story (James Bradshaw)

Legal moves: For the second time this month, a former provincial premier is joining the ranks of a national law firm. Christy Clark, the former leader of British Columbia’s Liberal Party, is joining Bennett Jones LLP as a special adviser, based in Vancouver. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)

Financial products: Canada’s fourth major bank began trading on Wednesday its own proprietary exchange-traded funds that will follow a “fund of funds” investment strategy. The Bank of Nova Scotia’s asset-management division, Scotia Global Asset Management, announced the launch of the Scotia Strategic ETF Portfolios, a suite of smart beta ETF portfolios that include fixed income, domestic and global equity funds. Story (Clare O’Hara)

Regulation: Big banks are getting a big reprieve from a postcrisis rule aimed at curbing risky behaviour on Wall Street. Federal bank regulators on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping plan to soften the Volcker Rule, opening the door for banks to resume some trading activities restricted as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. Story

International banking: Royal Bank of Scotland announced the surprise departure of its finance chief on Wednesday, on the day of its annual shareholder meeting and amid speculation the British government will soon sell some of its controlling stake in the bank. Story

DEAL WRAP

Mining: Nemaska Lithium Inc., a Quebec-based miner and developer of lithium salts, has raised $1.1-billion from investors as it aims to respond to surging demand for the metal used in electric vehicles and cellphone batteries. Story (Nicolas Van Praet)

Petronas buys LNG stake: Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas will buy a 25-per-cent stake in a B.C. liquefied natural project led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, a move designed to strengthen the $40-billion proposal and bolster Canadian energy exports. Story (Brent Jang, for subscribers)

Foreign takeovers: Recent accolades for Ottawa’s decision to disallow a Chinese state-owned enterprise’s (SOE) bid for Canadian construction giant Aecon are justified, but the real takeaway is that Ottawa’s policy on national security and foreign investment is an opaque, confusing mess. Opinion

Media sector: Corus Entertainment Inc. says it and Bell Media Inc. have agreed to end a deal on two Quebec specialty television channels after the proposed sale was blocked by the Commissioner of Competition. Story

Divestiture: The Competition Bureau is forcing Bayer AG to divest some of its Canadian canola, soybean and vegetable seed, traits and herbicide assets before it will allow the German pharmaceutical giant to purchase agricultural business Monsanto Company. Story

Media sector: A firmer timeline for the expected tug-of-war for 21st Century Fox has been established. Fox on Wednesday set a date – July 10 – for shareholders to vote on its $52.4 billion plan to sell most of its assets to the Walt Disney Co. Story

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