Barry Campbell
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Capital Markets Modernization in Ontario – Are We There Yet?
As part of its Capital Markets Modernization Review, and as promised in its 2021 Budget, the Government of Ontario has released a consultation draft of the Capital Markets Act (CMA). The introduction of the CMA was the first recommendation of the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce, whose final Report was released in January 2021. The Report contained…
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“An election takes the country’s temperature”: in Election 2021, Canada remains “a hotbed of cold feet”
At Campbell Strategies we don’t compete with the newspapers to provide you with statistics . We strive to provide perspective and broad context for outcomes you can read about in the media. As we’ve thought about how to characterize Election 2021, we think no one can say it better than journalist Andrew Cohen in the Ottawa…
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Final Open Banking Report Released – Will the Right Balance be Struck?
In 2018, the Federal Government launched an Advisory Committee on Open Banking. The Committee’s Final Report has been released, recommending that the government move quickly to create a regime for “open banking” in Canada. Open banking allows consumers to securely share their financial data among financial institutions and accredited third-party service providers. This gives consumers more choice and…
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Regulatory Streamlining Announced for Investment Fund Dealers and Mutual Fund Dealers
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has announced plans to merge the existing two parallel (and somewhat duplicative) regulatory frameworks of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) into one new “enhanced” and yet-to-be-named self-regulatory organization (SRO). This rehaul, set out in detail in the CSA’s Position Paper on…
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Why Central Banks Will Crush Bitcoin
Read Barry Campbell in the Globe and Mail on why central banks will crush bitcoin (text below) A bit of history is the best guide to what is about to happen to private digital currencies such as bitcoin. No, it’s not the tempting comparison to bursting asset bubbles, but the history of the demise of private paper…
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Mary Simon is Canada’s First Indigenous Governor General
Campbell Strategies extends our warmest congratulations to Mary Simon, Canada’s new Governor General. She is the first Indigenous person to serve in this position. My colleagues and I at Campbell Strategies were honoured to work with Ms. Simon on our “Pivoting North” conference in February, where she spoke about the challenges and opportunities in Canada’s…
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Budget 2021 Billion or Billions: Go Big Or Go Home
If you are really lucky as a Finance Minister, you get three Budgets (during your government’s usual 4 year term). The first isn’t really yours, because it’s all about implementing promises from the Campaign. The last Budget isn’t yours either, because it’s the basis for the next election. It’s the middle Budget where you get…
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Crypto phishing-regulators launch catch & release framework
Increasing concern about unregulated trading in cryptocurrencies has led Canada’s security administrators (the “CSA”) to take steps to regulate the burgeoning crypto market. All platforms that facilitate trades in a wide range of crypto assets have now been determined by securities authorities to be “trading in securities” warranting oversight. This is good news adding a layer of…
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New National Security Guidelines Will Complicate Foreign Investments
New guidelines under the Investment Canada Act (“ICA”) now mandate a national security review of a wider range of acquisitions by non Canadians in certain sectors, or by state owned or state influenced enterprises. The new guidelines signal that Canada is NOT “open for business” as governments have preferred to boast. Canada is acting in…
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Rogers and Shaw may wish they hadn’t proposed a merger at all
When the proposed mergers of Royal Bank RY-T unchno changeand Bank of Montreal BMO-T +0.14% increase, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T +0.34% increase and Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T +0.64% increase, were finally turned down by the federal government in 1998, the merger proponents at Canada’s major banks were probably relieved. The cost, in corporate…