BUSINESS
A8
MONDAY, FEB. 24, 2014
Banks look for solid start WEALTH MANAGEMENT, CAPITAL MARKETS EXPECTED TO DRIVE PROFITS BY CRAIG WONG THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — Canada’s big banks are facing a tougher market for retail banking as the housing market slows and consumers look to reduce debt. However, the wealth management and capital markets businesses are expected to pick up the slack as the country’s big financial institutions prepare to report their first-quarter earnings this week.
“I think wealth management is going to drive earnings within Canada,” said Stan Wong, director of wealth management and portfolio manager at ScotiaMcLeod. Wong said there also has been a pickup in merger and acquisition deals that will help the investment banking operations at the banks. “That might help boost some of the revenues on the capital markets side,” he said. The country’s big banks are coming off record annual profits last year and big gains for their stock, but analysts have downplayed the prospects of a re-
peat performance. CIBC analyst Robert Sedran said things may still not be great for the Canadian banks, but they are looking better. “With the better tone to the capital markets during the quarter, combined with the fact that the first quarter of the year is typically a seasonally strong one for those revenues, we look for a solid start to the year from the group,” Sedran wrote in a note to clients.
Please see BANKS on Page A9
ISP ordered to identify customers who downloaded films illegally BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble delivers a closing statement to the media during a press conference at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Sydney, Australia, Sunday.
Finance minister vows to boost world economy by $2 trillion over five years BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
G20 MEETING
SYDNEY, Australia — Finance chiefs from the 20 largest economies agreed Sunday to implement policies that will boost world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the coming five years. Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey, who hosted the Group of 20 meeting in Sydney, said the commitment from the G20 finance ministers and central bankers was “unprecedented.” The world economy has sputtered since the 2008 financial crisis and global recession that followed. Progress in returning economic growth to pre-crisis levels has been hampered by austerity policies in Europe, high unemployment in the U.S. and a cooling of China’s torrid expansion. The centerpiece of the $2 trillion commitment made at the Sydney meeting is to boost the combined gross domestic product of G20 countries by 2 per cent above the levels expected for the next five years, possibly creating tens of millions of new jobs. World GDP was about $72 trillion in 2012. The G20 combines the world’s major industrialized and developing countries from the United States to Saudi Arabia and China, representing about 85 per cent of the global economy. The communique from the meeting said signs of improvement in the global economy are welcome but growth remains below the rates needed to get people back into work and to meet their aspirations. The G20 said it would “significantly raise global growth” without overtaxing national finance through measures to promote competition and increase investment, employment and trade. As an initial step toward achieving the $2 trillion target, each country will present a comprehensive growth strategy to a summit of leaders scheduled for November in the Australian city of Brisbane. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the world economy will grow 3.7 per cent this year. It said the G20 plan could lift annual world economic
growth by half a percentage point for the next five years. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the agreement is significant and crucial to “turning the next page” in the global economic recovery. “G20 members have spoken clearly: boosting growth and demand tops the global economic agenda” Lew said in a statement. Hockey, the Australian treasurer, said there was intensive discussion about the challenges each country faces in boosting investment, particularly in infrastructure. He said there is much that governments can do to boost private investment by having predictable policies and regulations. On monetary policy, G20 members said they recognized it needs to remain accommodative for growth in many industrialized countries but should return to normal settings “in due course” depending on the outlook for inflation and GDP. Central banks in Europe, the United States and Japan are all maintaining lavishly easy monetary policy in an attempt to nurture economic recovery. The Federal Reserve’s recent decision to begin scaling back its monetary stimulus jolted global financial markets, particularly stocks which benefited in the past several years from record low interest rates and money created by bond buying policies. The meeting didn’t make any specific commitments to helping developing nations manage volatility in their financial markets stemming from the Fed’s stance. It said G20 nations should consistently communicate their actions and co-operate in “managing spillovers” to other countries. The G-20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
TORONTO — A Canadian Internet service provider has been ordered to hand over the names and addresses of about 2,000 customers who allegedly downloaded movies online. A Federal Court decision released Thursday compels Ontario-based TekSavvy to identify the customers allegedly linked to downloads of films by the U.S. production company Voltage Pictures, which is behind the likes of The Hurt Locker, Dallas Buyers Club and Don Jon. As a result, those TekSavvy customers could eventually receive a letter from Voltage threatening legal action. Under the federal Copyright Act, statutory damages for non-commercial infringement range between $100 and $5,000. “It’s going to be up to the courts to decide what the appropriate penalty is,” said Voltage’s lawyer James Zibarras, who called the court decision “great” and “well balanced.” “I think to date rightsholders’ interests have been ignored and really what this does is adjust the pendulum a bit. “Obviously the public has almost become accustomed to downloading movies for free and it’s being done on a massive scale. And of course the public loves justifying what they’re doing and when someone tries to stop it they invariably want to come up with arguments as to why it should not be stopped.” But while the court sided with Voltage’s efforts to go after copyright violators, it sought to protect against the company acting “inappropriately in the enforcement of its rights to the detriment of innocent Internet users.” “On the facts of this case, there is some evidence that Voltage has been engaged in litigation which may have an improper purpose. However, the evidence is not sufficiently compelling for this court at this juncture in the proceeding to make any definitive determination of the motive of Voltage,” wrote prothonotary Kevin Aalto. Aalto ordered that before Voltage can send a letter to the alleged downloaders, it must return to court to get the wording of its communications cleared by a case management judge. “In order to ensure there is no inappropriate language in any demand letter sent to the alleged infringers, the draft demand letter will be provided to the court for review,” Aalto wrote. “Any correspondence sent by Voltage to any subscriber shall clearly state in bold type that no court has yet made a determination that such subscriber has infringed or is liable in any way for payment of damages.” Voltage was also ordered to pay any costs that TekSavvy incurs in identifying the customers in the case, as well as legal fees. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, which had intervenor status in the case, said it was “quite pleased” with the decision and expected Voltage wouldn’t see any financial incentive in going after downloaders, particularly since it must pay TekSavvy’s “substantial” costs. CIPPIC director David Fewer said his read of the decision is that the court would not be eager to assign penalties at the higher range of what the Copyright Act allows. “If Voltage is asking for figures in excess of ($100) I think the court is going to shut them down pretty darn quickly,” Fewer said. “And if that’s the case I think Voltage is done because this is no longer a viable business model. And that’s what the whole copyright troll thing is about, it’s about using the court process to get settlements that are in excess of what you could get for (actual) damages to scare people into settling.”
Divorce can derail retirement plans and assets Going through a divorce is difficult at any age, but grey divorces involving couples 50 years or older can have a major impact on their retirement plans and assets like a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP). A recent study by Winnipeg-based Investors Group found that about 80 per cent of grey divorcees say they will probably delay their retirement because they need to work longer than planned, and 62 per cent said their post-divorce savings and investments will no longer be adequate to fund their retirement. “In a divorce you might feel emotionally liberated, but fiTALBOT nancially you could be a lot BOGGS worse off,” said Chris Buttigieg, senior manager, wealth planning strategy with BMO Financial Group. “Divorce poses some really challenges for people when retire-
MONEYWISE
ment is around the corner.” In case of separation or divorce, either you or your spouse can transfer existing RRSPs to the other without being subject to tax, provided you are living apart when property and assets are settled and provided you have a written separation agreement or a court order. A couple’s RRSPs often are split between partners during a divorce, but a lot of what happens will depend on the terms of the settlement. Attribution rules (tax rules to prevent excess income-splitting) regarding spousal RRSP and RRIF (registered retirement income fund) withdrawals will not apply to any withdrawals made after you and your spouse have begun to live separately and apart. Your soon-to-be-ex can continue to make spousal RRSP contributions to your spousal RRSP until the date you cease to be spouses, or the date of divorce. “Women tend to have more attachment to the home but liquid assets tend to go the other spouse,” Buttigieg said. “In cases like these, there’s a danger of becoming house-rich and cash-poor and finding yourself in the situation of wondering how you’re going to carry the house and expenses.”
Harley Richards, Business Editor, 403-314-4337 E-mail hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com
>>>>
One of the big problems with divorce is that it is often a bitter experience, which can affect your judgement. The Investors Group study found that people who characterized their divorce as bitter experienced greater financial difficulties than those whose divorce was more cordial, such as managing living expenses after the divorce or separation, stress from the division of assets, the cost of divorce proceedings and no longer having enough retirement savings. “Divorce is an emotional process that can cloud your ability to make sound financial decisions that will ultimately affect your future,” said Christine Van Cauwenberghe, assistant vice-president of tax and estate planning with Investors Group. “With limited earning power and less time to recoup financial losses, grey divorcees need to re-visit their financial plans.” A good financial planner will help you assess your financial situation, clarify your goals as a new single person and advise you on what you can do to meet those goals.
Please see DIVORCE on Page A9
SEE MORE ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM