Tag: Canada

Cybersecurity, Security

North Korean Activity in the Casino and Gaming Sector: How Do Jurisdictions Respond?

Colin Henderson

Allison Owen and Chandana Seshadri 3 September 2024Long Read RUSI. READ FULL REPORT(PDF 687KB) https://static.rusi.org/north-korean-activity-in-casino-gaming-industry_0.pdf This paper outlines proliferation finance activity tied to the casino and gaming sector, as well as the emergence of new avenues of exploitation that authorities should analyse as part of their national risk assessment process. Criminal actors exploit under-regulated aspects of the casino and gaming sector to launder and move illicit assets across jurisdictions. This threat is further compounded by the reported involvement of cryptocurrency as a means to move and obfuscate criminal assets. As a result of this shift in design, a new global illicit marketplace has emerged … Continue reading North Korean Activity in the Casino and Gaming Sector: How Do Jurisdictions Respond?

productivity

Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the US

Colin Henderson

Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the United States, and our productivity growth lags that of the United Kingdom, Germany and France.August 14, 2024 From: Martin Eichenbaum, Michelle Alexopoulos and Jeremy M. Kronick >Many reasons have been cited for the country’s poor performance, over-regulation and barriers to competition and interprovincial trade among them. >But a lesser-known contributor to the problem is Canada’s focus on investment in the construction industry which tends to have weaker productivity than other industries, said Caranci. >Along with regulation barriers, the industry contains a large number of small … Continue reading Workers in Canada are now only 70 per cent as productive as their counterparts in the US

Risk

Live Updates: The Fed Hinted That Rate Cuts Could Come Soon

Colin Henderson

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a two-decade high but suggested that recent progress in lowering inflation could enable it to cut interest rates soon. Updated  July 31, 2024, 2:49 p.m. ET6 minutes ago Pinned Federal funds target rate Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged at their July meeting, as economists had expected, and hinted that recent progress in lowering inflation could enable them to cut interest rates soon. Continue reading Live Updates: The Fed Hinted That Rate Cuts Could Come Soon

Uncategorized

Business Outlook Turns Negative in Canada Amid Higher Rates

Colin Henderson

Inflation expectations fall in BoC surveys but remain too high Bloomberg report Canadian economy is properly responding to the interest rate increases. The tight labour market is expected to improve with impact of coming aggressive immigration increase policies. Snippets from Bloomberg article: The central bank’s business outlook indicator fell to -1.1 in the first quarter, from 0.1 previously. Firms expect slower sales growth for the fifth straight survey, due to higher interest rates, high inflation and concern about a recession. The data suggest the Bank of Canada’s aggressive rate increases over the past year are working to drag down inflation … Continue reading Business Outlook Turns Negative in Canada Amid Higher Rates

Uncategorized

Bank of Canada notes consumer credit remains a risk

Colin Henderson

Despite the general view that Canada and its banks is in relatively better condition that international peers, down side risks remain, and are relatively unchanged since Jun 2009. This statement sums that up, and introduces a key point about this crisis and how little has been done to prevent re-occurrence. Bank of Canada Financial System Review Despite notable improvement in funding markets, funding and liquidity constraints remain an important area of vulnerability. Should a negative shock occur, such as a renewed downturn in the global economy or a loss of investor confidence, funding and liquidity pressures would likely reappear relatively … Continue reading Bank of Canada notes consumer credit remains a risk

Economy

Bank of Canada joins other Central Banks is calling for caution

Colin Henderson

In the regular Monetary Policy Report the Bank of Canada keeps their focus on a low interest rate environment right through 2010. On inflation the view is mixed … The main upside risks to inflation relate to the possibility of a stronger-than anticipated recovery in the global economy. A stronger global recovery would be transmitted to Canada via trade, financial, confidence, and commodity price channels. There is also the risk that Canadian domestic demand could be more robust and have a more sustained momentum than projected. On the downside, a stronger-than-assumed Canadian dollar, driven by global portfolio movements out of … Continue reading Bank of Canada joins other Central Banks is calling for caution

Payments, SEPA, US

Non Cash Growth as a barometer of Payment Innovation

Colin Henderson

CapGemini have come out with their World Payments Report – 2009 [pdf 60 pages]. Lots of statistics, but the one that leapt out at me is this. Japan stands out as a growth leader, despite being a mature economy.   Certainly their growth potential is large given the traditional consumer cash economy, but I have to look at the North American lowly 5% and wonder that lack of innovation in payments is not a driver. Certainly there remains lots of cash transactions to convert to payments but nominal innovation in the works to migrate to electronic.  The report notes that cash … Continue reading Non Cash Growth as a barometer of Payment Innovation

Economy

Canadian Banks have a Productivity Gap relative to the US

Colin Henderson

Following up on the previous post covering the Bank of Canada’s view that Canadian Banks do not have a productivity gap [pdf 19 pages] relative to US Banks, here is the basis for that contention within a 2006 report. The conclusion copied here in whole is in my view, woefully misleading and contradictory. It reads to me like someone with political motivations has turned facts into something that meets policy objectives. Analysis to follow. This work examines the efficiency and productivity of Canadian and U.S. banks in three ways. First, we compare key performance ratios and find that (i) the … Continue reading Canadian Banks have a Productivity Gap relative to the US

Economy1 Comment

The Canadian Economy Beyond the Recession | Bank of Canada

Colin Henderson

In this talk at Kingston last Tuesday, Tim Lane, Deputy Governor Bank of Canada lays out a quite lucid view [ 9 pages] of the opportunities and challenges facing Canada in recovery. Highlights: labour productivity and output is the fundamental challenge that existed before and will continue post recession the size of the working population is to decrease significantly for demographic reasons, and neither immigration nor baby boomers remaining longer in the workforce will significantly alter that prediction the financial services industry is critical to Canada at 20% of the economy Canadian producivity has been dropping because of insifficient investment … Continue reading The Canadian Economy Beyond the Recession | Bank of Canada