Business

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Business watch

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 10/25/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Credit unions join forces

DAUPHIN, Man. -- Members of three western Manitoba credit unions have voted overwhelmingly in favour of merging their operations.

The Dauphin Plains, Roblin and Ethelbert credit unions will be known as the Parkland Credit Union when the merger takes effect next July 1. The new business will have more than 13,000 members.

Ron Hedley, general manager of Dauphin Plains, said 94 per cent of his members voted for the merger, while the margin was 97 per cent at Ethelbert and 79 per cent at Roblin.

The change will leave the financial institution well-positioned for the future, Hedley said.

The merger will help reduce operating costs and result in better customer service, he said.

Prepaid credit regulated

OTTAWA -- Ottawa is stepping in with new rules for the largely unregulated prepaid credit card market.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Wednesday in the future, issuers of prepaid cards will not be allowed to impose expiry dates and must be upfront about fees and conditions.

The new rules are part of the government's expanding regulations governing credit and debit transactions, which previously didn't apply to the relatively new prepaid market.

"We have done a lot of regulation with respect to debit and credit cards. We haven't done much with respect to prepaid cards," Flaherty said.

Convicted trader vows fight

PARIS -- The Paris appeals court on Wednesday ordered former Société Générale trader Jerome Kerviel to spend three years in prison and pay back a staggering 4.9 billion euros (about C$6.3 billion) in damages for one of the biggest trading frauds in history.

Kerviel, 35, who never profited personally from his unauthorized trades, says he was a scapegoat for the bank and a victim of a financial system that runs on greed and profits. He will appeal his case to the highest court.

"I will continue to fight," he told RTL radio. "I think the judgment is protecting Société Générale."

He called on those in the banking industry, notably Société Générale employees, to step forward and speak up about how the bank's managers knew about the trades.

Up next: interest rate hike

OTTAWA -- Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he's not as eager to raise interest rates as he was a few months ago, although he was clear the next move likely will be to increase rather than reduce the cost of borrowing.

The central banker made the statement Wednesday following the release of the latest quarterly economic outlook and amid some confusion about Tuesday's changes to the guidance the bank issues during policy announcements.

As expected, the bank kept its policy rate at one per cent for the 17th time, but changed the language on its tightening bias to read that "over time" historically low interest rates will need to rise.

U.S. sues Bank of America

NEW YORK -- The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan sued the Bank of America for more than $1 billion on Wednesday for mortgage fraud against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac around the time of the U.S. financial crisis.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Countrywide Financial, which was later bought by the Bank of America, churned out mortgage loans from 2007 to 2009 without making sure borrowers could afford them. Bank of America had no immediate comment.

"The fraudulent conduct alleged in today's complaint was spectacularly brazen in scope," Bharara said in a statement. The suit was partly to recover money lost by the state-controlled mortgage-financing organizations.

-- from the news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 25, 2012 B8

Fact Check

Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.

* Required

In which story did you find the error? *
Please post the headline of the story or the title of the video with the error.
What was the error? *
Please post exactly what was wrong with the story.
What should we have written?
Please indicate your source for the correct information.
Who else should we interview to improve this story?
Please include any contact information you may have.
Can we contact you in the future for advice on stories about this topic?
Yes

No
First Name: *
Last Name: *
E–mail Address: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Phone: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Colour:
Are you blue? If you can see this, leave it blank and get some CSS support.
Enter the words that you see: * This is to prevent our forms from being filled out automatically.
You have failed to correctly identify the words in the box above. Please try again.

More Business

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.