Canada - Let's Continue To Be Proud of Our Banking System - And Here's Why

If you've tuned out the past reporting of Canada weathering the financial crisis storm and wondered what all the fuss was about (the IMF naming us the strongest banking system in the world during the meltdown), here's an article that might just make you even more proud of our fine country and banking industry.

As quoted near the end of the article, I think this paragraph summarizes the author's argument best:

In my conversations with Canadian bankers, one of the things that struck me was how often they referred to mothers. Nixon [CEO of RBC] mentioned his mother and her good opinion when explaining why he gave back his bonus in 2008; Clark [CEO of TD] uses the mother-in-law test, as in “Would you sell it to your mother-in-law?” to help TD employees figure out if they should be hawking a product to their customers. In an era when Wall Street investment banks issue notes warning their clients they may be short-selling the investments they are marketing, this sounds like a charmingly Canadian attitude. But it is easier to be nice if you don’t need to be nasty just to make a buck.

Read the full article here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/db2b340a-0a1b-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1g9BnSeBz

Might I also suggest that you review the definition of securitization here, mortgage-backed securities here, and asset-backed securities here.