PrefBlog

Kevin Carmichael and Tara Perkins of the Globe are speculating about the next Superintendent of Financial Institutions:

Mark Zelmer, a former chief of the Bank of Canada’s financial stability department, represents OSFI at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the global club of financial regulators that sets world banking standards, and has been taking on an increasingly public role in recent months.

The other deputy is Andrew Kriegler, who joined OSFI in February, 2013, after more than two decades on Bay Street, most recently as treasurer at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Another possibility is Robert Kelly, chairman of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and the former chief executive of Wall Street bank BNY Mellon, although he would presumably have to step down from his relatively new post at CMHC because OSFI regulates it.

The choice has added significance because Ottawa’s ranks of financial experts – a strength that helped Canada weather the financial crisis – are thinning quickly.

My guess? The one with least back-bone. As a second choice, the youngest one, who will have the most time to cash in on those lucrative financial sector directorships that ex-Superintendents get appointed to, for some odd reason.

It was a mixed day for the Canadian preferred share market, with PerpetualDiscounts up 34bp, FixedResets off 11bp and DeemedRetractibles gaining 14bp. The lengthy Performance Highlights table is dominated by losing FixedResets with low Issue Reset Spreads. Volume was high.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 at 2:05 am and is filed under Market Action. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.