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This article criticizes a study accusing Canadian banks of tax fraud. Over the years, I have found that some excellent scholarly papers are worth reviewing in columns to help Canadians think more clearly about public policies. Such is the case of a recent study written by Léo-Paul Lauzon, Marc Gendron and Denis Hasbani at the University of Quebec at Montreal, and entitled Canadian Banks and Tax Avoidance Carried Out in Tax Havens. The authors claim the banks avoided paying $5.7 billion in tax over the 2000-03 period. The authors also (incorrectly) focus only on tax havens, forgetting that most countries have corporate tax rates significantly less than Canada's. How sad it would be if public policy were based on a discriminatory attack on banks rather than on a proper understanding of corporate tax policy.

The article looks at the decline of the personal cheque in Canada as of 2013, discussing Westminster Savings Credit Union customers' option of depositing a paper cheque using a smartphone app (mobile device application) and offering statistics about the history and economics of personal cheques.

The article focuses on a change in banking in Nunavut communities. Banking is a transaction that involves turning your paycheque over to the Northern store in exchange for credit. Investments and mortgages are a far-off concept, and visiting an actual bank branch involves flying several hundred kilometres to one of the territory's regional centres. On Nov. 5, the Bank of Montreal will close its only branch in the territory of 27,000 after 10 years of service. According to the local paper, the Iqaluit branch turned a profit every year and had 6,000 clients from across the territory. But it "didn't meet financial expectations," says BMO spokesman Michael Edmonds. Iqaluit residents who have mortgages and other long-term investments with BMO will have their accounts moved more than 2,000 kilometres away, to Pembroke, Ont. Even Edmonds concedes the new location is not exactly convenient. The town bulletin board may have been the target of anti-bank resentment in August, when it was set on fire in the middle of the night, triggering a sprinkler system that flooded the bank's foyer. he branch closed for one day, but since then it's been business as usual--until it shuts its doors for the last time in November.

The article profiles Richard Waugh, the chief executive officer of the Bank of Nova Scotia. A discussion of Waugh's employment history at the bank, his salary and bonus, and controversies which have resulted from some of Waugh's business decisions, is presented. The bank's stock performance is discussed.

The article profiles Edmund Clark, the chief executive officer of Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank. A discussion of Clark's tenure, salary and bonus at the bank, and of changes which he has made at the bank, including a March 31, 2008 $7.5 billion acquisition of New Jersey based Commerce Bancorp, is presented.

The article discusses various factors that either contribute or affect the growth of a business in Canada. The ways in which the government is helping Canadian businesspeople include the establishment of the provincially funded venture-capital funds and BizPal, an online clearing house of information about licenses and permits that businesses need to acquire for hundreds of activities in the country. Banks and credit unions continue to supply the funding needed by independent Canadian businesses. INSET: HOW ANGEL INVESTORS ARE FILLING THE VC GAP.

The article focuses on CEO Rick Waugh and the Bank of Nova Scotia, which is the No. 2 bank by assets and market capitalization, and is neck-and-neck with Nortel for second-largest company in Canada. Waugh has a money problem most CEOs would kill for. Simply put, he's got several billion in excess cash lying around. True, that hasn't had an impact on Scotiabank's return on equity, which at 17.6% in 2003 outperformed most banks. But shareholders don't like to see that much cash going unused. To them, the options are simple: spend it to buy back Scotia shares, snap up another bank, or share the wealth through dividends. The problem, as Waugh sees it, is that the global banks are expanding so fast they could "cut a cheque in the blink of an eye" for "the whole Canadian banking system." But if Canadian banks want to remain serious players, it means they'll either have to merge or go shopping.

Michael Lee-Chin has returned to Jamaica and bought National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Jamaica. But is his ultimate goal to turn around the troubled nation? While official statistics state the unemployment rate in Jamaica is a staggering 16%, it's actually widely thought to be much higher, as that figure dates back to 2001, before the Sept. 11 attacks steamrolled the tourism industry. Some of the idled hands have clearly turned to peddling drugs--an anchor that weighed the country down even when times were better. Today, for a single male at least, a five-minute stroll through a busy resort town is a walk through a world of vice--marijuana, hash, cocaine, acid and prostitutes are offered at what seems like every step. Battling it all is a beleaguered police force that doesn't really have the full confidence of the Jamaican people. Compounding the societal ills afflicting Jamaica is a truly devastated economy. Lee-Chin, chairman, chief executive officer and majority owner of Canadian mutual fund giant AIC Ltd., knew the lay of the land when he bought National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Jamaica just over a year ago. Lee-Chin has proposed ways he can help battle crime, reinforce Jamaica's social security net, improve its health care system and stem its troubling brain drain. But let's make one thing clear. Lee-Chin is a capitalist out to make a buck. And a big buck at that. The story of how Lee-Chin rose from humble beginnings in the seaside town of Port Antonio to become a symbol of success for all of the Caribbean is the stuff of legend in Jamaica.

Discusses the dissatisfaction felt by many wealthy Canadians about their banks and the services they offer. Their complaints about young, inexperienced bank employees and the lack of communication between departments; What banks are doing to solve problems with rich clients; What Canadian banks are learning from Northern Trust Corp., a private bank in the United States; The importance of being able to socialize properly with rich clients.

Focuses on proposed banking legislation in Canada that will amend ownership rules allowing banks, like Canadian Western Bank, to be taken over more easily. The financial success of Canadian Western Bank under the guidance of Larry Pollock; The biggest obstacle that banks will encounter in a possible merger; Why the political climate is different from that of 1998 when four of Canada's top financial institutions put forward bank merger proposals.