Canadian • Did Canadian banks receive a secret bailout?

Did Canadian banks receive a secret bailout?
Peter Henderson, Postmedia News Apr 30, 2012

Peter J. Thompson/National Post files
In a newly released study, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said that government support for Canadian banks from October 2008 to July 2010 was much higher than the government admitted.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is accusing the government of giving this country’s banks a multibillion-dollar secret bailout in 2008.

In a newly released study, the centre-left group said that government support for Canadian banks from October 2008 to July 2010 was much higher than the government admitted.

“The federal government claims it was offering banks ‘liquidity support’ but it looks an awful lot like a bailout to me,” said study author and centre economist David MacDonald in a statement.

All told, the study counts $114-billion worth of guarantees and financial aid for Canada’s big banks from government agencies such as the Bank of Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Mr. MacDonald combed through financial reports from government institutions as well as quarterly reports from the banks themselves.

He says the government has been obfuscating the true cost of supporting the banks.

“A healthy and resilient banking sector cannot operate under a shroud of secrecy. Details of the massive taxpayer support Canadian banks received should be released in the name of transparency and accountability,” Mr. MacDonald said.

The study also discusses banker salaries, noting that the heads of Canada’s big banks received significant raises from 2008 to 2009.

The CCPA is calling for new regulations for the financial sector.

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/ … t-bailout/

Statistics: Posted by yoda — Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:24 am