TORONTO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research),
which last year targeted small-business lending as a growth
area, is hoping a move to increase its loan capacity for the
segment will spark an increase in borrowing.

The bank said on Thursday it will raise its credit available
to small and medium-sized businesses by C$10 billion ($10
billion) over the next three years, representing a 26 percent
increase over its current C$38 billion book of loans to the
segment.

TORONTO (Reuters) – The arrival of the man known as “the Warren Buffett of North” on Research In Motion’s board this week offers a ray of hope to the BlackBerry maker’s impatient shareholders after their disappointment that an insider was named new chief executive.

That’s not to say the reclusive Watsa – who heads Fairfax Financial, now RIM’s fourth-largest shareholder – has a reputation as a turnaround artist who will agitate for radical change at the struggling company.

TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) – Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is clear to take over Mongolia’s coveted Oyu Tolgoi project, which promises to be one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, after project owner Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) decided to scrap a controversial “poison pill”.

Ivanhoe said on Wednesday it would ditch its shareholder rights plan, originally aimed at blocking Rio Tinto from raising its stake in the Canadian firm, as a separate agreement capping the global miner’s holding at 49 percent expired.

TORONTO/LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Global miner Rio
Tinto is clear to take over Mongolia’s coveted Oyu
Tolgoi project, which promises to be one of the world’s largest
copper-gold mines, after project owner Ivanhoe Mines
decided to scrap a controversial “poison pill”.

Ivanhoe said on Wednesday it would ditch its shareholder
rights plan, originally aimed at blocking Rio Tinto from raising
its stake in the Canadian firm, as a separate agreement capping
the global miner’s holding at 49 percent expired.

TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) – Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), owner of Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi project, will scrap a controversial “poison pill”, clearing the way for its single largest shareholder, Rio Tinto, to take over what could be one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines.

News that Ivanhoe’s board will propose throwing out the shareholder rights plan, originally aimed at blocking a creeping increase in Rio Tinto’s (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (RIO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) stake, came as a separate standstill agreement capping the global miner’s holding at 49 percent expired on Wednesday.

(Refiles with no changes to make clear this is an updated
story)

* Cancelling rights plan clears way for Rio to take majority
stake

* Rio holds 49 percent of Ivanhoe

* Ivanhoe secures additional $1.8 bln bridge loan

* Ivanhoe, Rio working to secure $4 bln long-term financing

Jan 18 – Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) has decided to scrap
its shareholder rights plan, clearing the way for Rio Tinto
(RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to acquire a majority stake in the company and take
control of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in
Mongolia.

A standstill agreement limiting Rio’s stake in Ivanhoe to 49
percent was set to expire on Wednesday, but Ivanhoe’s
shareholder rights plan would have triggered a rights issue if
the Anglo-Australian mining giant raised its stake further,
making the move much more expensive.

TORONTO, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Royal Bank of Canada
(RY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) is teaming up with Canadian chain Shoppers Drug Mart
(SC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) to offer a co-branded bank account and debit card as
both market-leading companies deal with a challenging profit
growth environment.

The program – dubbed the RBC Shoppers Optimum Banking
Account – will allow Shoppers customers to earn additional
loyalty points on in-store purchases and also earn points on
purchases made elsewhere when using the card, the companies said
on Tuesday.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada will plug a loophole in its marriage laws that left foreign gay couples in a legal limbo, able to marry in Canada, but in a union that might not be legal, and perhaps without the ability to divorce.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the problem stemmed from a “legislative gap” that meant some – if not all – gay marriages performed in Canada could not be dissolved in Canada if gay marriage was not legal in their home country.

TORONTO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Canadian insurers endured
a rocky third-quarter reporting season, and the early view is
that the final fiscal quarter will bring more of the same, as
low interest rates and one-time charges hold back their results.

“We expect another terrible reporting season for the life
insurers in Q4,” National Bank Financial analyst Peter Routledge
said in a note on Friday.

TORONTO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Canadian insurers endured
a rocky third-quarter reporting season, and the early view is
that the final fiscal quarter will bring more of the same, as
low interest rates and one-time charges hold back their results.

“We expect another terrible reporting season for the life
insurers in Q4,” National Bank Financial analyst Peter Routledge
said in a note on Friday.