SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, April 4 (Reuters) – Bank of Nova
Scotia could enter new markets in Asia as it expands
its international footprint, and will not be held back by
concerns about its capital levels, the bank’s head of
international banking told Reuters.

“There’s a couple of countries in Asia that may be
appealing,” Brian Porter said in an interview.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, April 3 (Reuters) – Bank of Nova
Scotia Chief Executive Rick Waugh says Canada’s
simmering housing market gives reason for caution, but that it’s
up to the country’s banks, rather than the government, to manage
the risks of their massive mortgage portfolios.

“The current concerns about Canada’s housing market are
reason for caution but not pessimism. We can and will manage
through any potential housing market problems,” he told
Scotiabank’s annual general meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
on Tuesday.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, April 3 (Reuters) – Bank of Nova
Scotia Chief Executive Rick Waugh says Canada’s
simmering housing market gives reason for caution, but that it’s
up to the country’s banks, rather than the government, to manage
the risks of their massive mortgage portfolios.

“The current concerns about Canada’s housing market are
reason for caution but not pessimism. We can and will manage
through any potential housing market problems,” he told the
Scotiabank’s annual general meeting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
on Tuesday.

TORONTO, March 29 (Reuters) – Toronto-Dominion Bank’s
long-serving chief executive, Ed Clark, told
shareholders on Thursday he is nearing the end of his tenure,
but said his departure is not imminent.

Clark, who took the reins in late 2002 and has since turned
the Toronto-based bank into a major U.S. lender, is the second
longest-serving CEO among Canada’s top five banks, trailing only
Royal Bank of Canada CEO Gordon Nixon.

TORONTO, March 29 (Reuters) – With a dominant position
already staked out in the Canadian property and casualty
insurance industry, Intact Financial (IFC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to seek
growth in international markets, the company’s chief executive
told Reuters in an interview.

The Toronto-based company, one of the strongest financial
stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange last year, plans to
establish itself in at least one international market within the
next five years, CEO Charles Brindamour said.
“We’d want to build a presence in one or two markets outside
Canada in P&C insurance,” he said.

TORONTO, March 28 (Reuters) – Despite steady commodity
prices, financing remains a challenge for junior miners, and a
sluggish M&A environment means many projects face a long road to
development, a financing panel told the Reuters Global Mining
and Metals Summit.

While high-grade projects in stable jurisdictions are still
a good bet to find money, lower-grade projects that would have
been a slam-dunk just a few years ago are facing a grim market.

TORONTO, March 26 (Reuters) – Canadian banks have cut short
a mortgage price war that had the lenders offering all-time low
rates of 2.99 percent, as rising bond yields have boosted
funding costs for the lenders.

Royal Bank of Canada was the first lender to raise
rates, saying on Monday it will boost the rate on its cheapest
four-year mortgage to 3.49 percent as of Thursday.

TORONTO, March 25 (Reuters) – After steep losses in
2011, life insurers are suddenly among the hottest plays on the
Canadian market, though the stocks may have trouble building on
their gains given a murky profit outlook and recent changes in
their business mix.

With a 13 percent rise over the past two weeks, Industrial
Alliance leads a group that has been hit hard since the
financial crisis in 2008.

TORONTO, March 8 (Reuters) – Sun Life Financial
plans to boost its operating income to C$2 billion
($2.01 billion) in the next three years by focusing on high
growth businesses and riding an expected improvement in stock
and bond markets, the company’s chief executive said.

Dean Connor, who took over from longtime CEO Donald Stewart
in December, announced the goal as part of his new strategic
plan for the Canadian life insurer, which has seen its profit
and share price hammered over the past four years from largely
market-related losses.

March 8 (Reuters) – Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce’s first-quarter profit rose 9 percent, beating
estimates, and the bank said it was exploring the sale of its
low-margin broker mortgage unit.

Canada’s fifth-biggest lender, commonly known as CIBC,
earned C$835 million ($833.13 million), or C$1.93 a share, in
the fiscal first quarter, compared with C$763 million, or C$1.80
a share, a year ago.