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A Bay street sign is seen in Toronto’s financial district.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail

Here are the top reads:

Pot going mainstream in banking: BMO's equity financing for Canopy is, in some ways, a watershed moment that will put pressure on other leading banks to find ways to cash in on the burgeoning marijuana sector. But don't expect Canada's largest lenders to open their arms to the industry just yet. Story (Christina Pellegrini and James Bradshaw, for subscribers)

Pot M&A update: CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. has postponed a shareholder vote on its proposed takeover of recreational cannabis company Newstrike Resources Ltd., and will enter into talks with hostile bidder Aurora Cannibis Inc. Story (Jeffrey Jones, for subscribers)

Executive appointment: Camilla Sutton is taking on the top job at Women in Capital Markets, an organization aimed at promoting gender diversity in the financial services industry. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)

DEAL WRAP

Uber shareholder: A group of investors led by SoftBank Group Corp. closed a deal with Uber Technologies Inc. on Thursday, making SoftBank the largest stakeholder in the ride-services firm and providing a much-needed boost to controversy-ridden Uber. Story (for subscribers)

Financing source: The federal government will give $700-million over the next five years to the Business Development Bank of Canada in a bid to grow Canada's clean technology industry. Story

U.S. venture financing: Apartment List, a San Francisco-based apartment rental marketplace, has raised $50-million (U.S.) in a series C round of funding led by Passport Capital, with participation from Allen & Company LLC, Canaan Partners, Matrix Partners, Industry Ventures, Quantum Partners LP, Tenaya Capital, and WTI. VentureBeat

International venture fund: Partech Ventures, an investment firm with hubs in Paris, San Francisco, and Berlin, has announced a new fund dedicated to African startups. The aptly named Partech Africa fund currently has commitments of €57-million ($70-million U.S.), though it's targeting an eventual closure of €100-million ($122-million) with some major corporate investors already on board such as Orange, Edenred, and JCDecaux. VentureBeat

FINANCIAL SERVICES WRAP

Asset spin-off: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is targeting a valuation of 10 times earnings for the potential listing of its FirstCaribbean business in New York, which would give it a market value of around $1.4-billion, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters over the past week. Story

U.S. bank earnings: Morgan Stanley's quarterly profit dropped almost 60 per cent on a provision related to the new U.S. tax law, but adjusted profit beat analyst expectations as strength in wealth management offset a drop in trading revenue. Story

Mortgage rates: Canada's biggest banks will hike their prime rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday, putting financial pressure on homeowners with variable rate mortgages. Story

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

New job for Ed: Ontario has called in its top business guru to head the agency that will handle the complicated task of selling and distributing recreational marijuana once pot is legalized this summer. Story

WHAT WE'RE READING ELSEWHERE

Are investment banks disrupted? Maybe not Spotify's risky IPO reveals a valuation crisis, not a Wall Street revolution VentureBeat

Analysis of Wall Street: Morgan Stanley can do little wrong, at least for the time being. Bloomberg

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ACB-T
Aurora Cannabis Inc
+12.98%6.44
BMO-T
Bank of Montreal
+0.32%130.77
CM-T
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
+0.67%67.9
MS-N
Morgan Stanley
+2.43%93.5
ORAN-N
Orange ADR
+2.1%11.66

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