The David Berry Saga keeps grinding on:
David Berry has lost another bid to toss out disciplinary action taken against him by IIROC (Investment Industry Regulators of Canada).
The Divisional Court of the Ontario Court of Justice dismissed Berry’s attempt to block an action commenced against him by market regulation services, a forerunner of IIROC. Berry had previously asked the Ontario Securities Commission to block the disciplinary action, but the OSC dismissed the matter in September 2009. That’s why Berry took the matter to Ontario’s Divisional Court, which is often the venue for appeals of administrative decisions.
A news release from IIROC says Berry’s challenge was dismissed on Nov. 26, but it refers you to the court’s written decision for more details. As of this moment, those reasons aren’t on CanLII.
It has been so long since any news on this matter that I was beginning to think it had been quietly settled! Long time Assiduous Readers will remember that David Berry was Scotia’s pref trader for several years and made them literally hundreds of millions of dollars, of which he got a percentage. Scotia’s executives then demonstrated their levels of personal integrity by putting a rather large team of accountants and lawyers on the case to dig up any picayune regulatory infractions he might have committed in order to gain negotiating power over a new contract, a process in which IIROC was pleased to participate.
The Europeans think they’ve done enough:
European finance ministers ruled out immediate aid for Portugal and Spain or an increase in the 750 billion-euro ($1 trillion) crisis fund, counting on European Central Bank bond purchases to calm debt-spooked markets.
A week after handing Ireland an 85 billion-euro lifeline, the finance chiefs voiced confidence that Spain and Portugal will tame their budget deficits and said the existing credit line is enough to defend them in an emergency.
…
A 22-week high in ECB bond-buying brought a respite from speculative attacks, masking divisions between the 16 euro-area governments over the next steps to fight the explosion of debt that threatens the currency.
Meanwhile, the US sold its Citigroup stake, bringing the North American situation closer to a common or garden (albeit very nasty) recession.
There is still another three weeks odd to go, but the following effort from a major bank/dealer has a lock on the covetted PrefBlog “Most Asinine Investment Advice of 2010” Award:
Click for Big
The Canadian preferred share market got hit today on very heavy volume, with PerpetualDiscounts down 17bp and FixedResets losing 21bp.
| HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
|||||||
| Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
| Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1493 % | 2,275.4 |
| FixedFloater | 4.73 % | 3.20 % | 28,903 | 19.04 | 1 | -0.0435 % | 3,557.5 |
| Floater | 2.62 % | 2.37 % | 53,338 | 21.32 | 4 | -0.1493 % | 2,456.9 |
| OpRet | 4.80 % | 3.47 % | 86,735 | 2.38 | 8 | -0.1822 % | 2,374.6 |
| SplitShare | 5.47 % | 1.20 % | 118,890 | 1.00 | 3 | -0.1871 % | 2,459.4 |
| Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.1822 % | 2,171.3 |
| Perpetual-Premium | 5.70 % | 5.42 % | 157,066 | 5.44 | 27 | -0.2282 % | 2,008.9 |
| Perpetual-Discount | 5.37 % | 5.38 % | 282,382 | 14.75 | 51 | -0.1696 % | 2,028.4 |
| FixedReset | 5.24 % | 3.57 % | 352,310 | 3.12 | 52 | -0.2095 % | 2,254.5 |
| Performance Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
| IAG.PR.C | FixedReset | -2.50 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-01-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.52 Bid-YTW : 3.98 % |
| BAM.PR.I | OpRet | -2.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2012-07-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.28 Bid-YTW : 5.47 % |
| MFC.PR.E | FixedReset | -1.63 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-10-19 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.54 Bid-YTW : 3.84 % |
| GWO.PR.H | Perpetual-Discount | -1.59 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 22.75 Evaluated at bid price : 22.95 Bid-YTW : 5.28 % |
| FTS.PR.G | FixedReset | -1.54 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-10-01 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.60 Bid-YTW : 4.33 % |
| GWO.PR.M | Perpetual-Premium | -1.23 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 24.62 Evaluated at bid price : 24.84 Bid-YTW : 5.84 % |
| TD.PR.K | FixedReset | -1.19 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-08-30 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.41 Bid-YTW : 3.69 % |
| MFC.PR.C | Perpetual-Discount | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 20.12 Evaluated at bid price : 20.12 Bid-YTW : 5.62 % |
| GWO.PR.I | Perpetual-Discount | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 21.05 Evaluated at bid price : 21.05 Bid-YTW : 5.36 % |
| POW.PR.D | Perpetual-Discount | 1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 23.45 Evaluated at bid price : 23.70 Bid-YTW : 5.35 % |
| BNS.PR.P | FixedReset | 1.44 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-05-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.12 Bid-YTW : 3.28 % |
| Volume Highlights | |||
| Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
| BMO.PR.M | FixedReset | 121,458 | Desjardins crossed 70,300 at 26.22; TD crossed 40,000 at the same price. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2013-09-24 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 26.21 Bid-YTW : 3.17 % |
| BNS.PR.T | FixedReset | 106,447 | RBC crossed blocks of 50,000 and 47,400, both at 27.50. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-05-25 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.40 Bid-YTW : 3.53 % |
| BMO.PR.P | FixedReset | 72,177 | Nesbitt crossed 50,000 at 27.22. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2015-03-27 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.23 Bid-YTW : 3.19 % |
| RY.PR.X | FixedReset | 61,218 | RBC crossed blocks of 37,900 and 11,100, both at 27.50. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Call Maturity Date : 2014-09-23 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 27.55 Bid-YTW : 3.48 % |
| CM.PR.J | Perpetual-Discount | 50,702 | RBC crossed 35,000 at 21.99. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2040-12-07 Maturity Price : 21.86 Evaluated at bid price : 21.97 Bid-YTW : 5.18 % |
| MFC.PR.A | OpRet | 47,800 | RBC crossed 37,100 at 25.65. YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Soft Maturity Maturity Date : 2015-12-18 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 25.71 Bid-YTW : 3.47 % |
| There were 75 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. | |||