TORONTO (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada (TO:RY) is committing C$150 million ($111 million) to racial diversity initiatives and aims to increase the proportion of non-white executive hires to 30% from 20%, Canada's biggest lender said on Monday. RBC commits C$150 million to diversity push, aims for more minority executives The Canadian banks index closed 0.2% lower on Tuesday, compared with a 0.4% gain in the Toronto stocks benchmark (GSPTSE). 'If there is an opportunity to take a charge that makes sense, that we can clearly communicate to our investors, we may consider that.' Most of the banks said they expect adjusted expense growth to fall to 2-3% in 2020, from about 5% in 2019.Ī restructuring charge 'is always a possibility,' said CIBC CEO Victor Dodig. and it's completely different from anything we've done in the past.'įollowing the banks' fourth-quarter earnings in December, CIBC analyst Robert Sedran said in a note that the pressure on expenses will not abate and forecast more such charges in the quarters ahead. we're doing that through technology, through rewiring the organization. 'We have to make sure that 5% of the work goes away. 'We don't intend to pull this lever again,' BMO CEO Darryl White said. TD Bank and Royal Bank took restructuring charges of C$154 million and $83 million respectively in the fourth quarter.īMO took a C$484 million ($372.16 million) pre-tax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter as part of its push to reduce its workforce by 5%, or about 2,300 employees, following a C$120 million charge earlier in the year and a C$260 million charge in 2018. That requires us to restructure certain parts of our bank.' 'Jobs within TD are changing quite dramatically. the level of innovation slows down dramatically,' he said. 'In the phase we're in, you should expect that this becomes more regular until. TD CEO Bharat Masrani said restructuring is necessary to adapt to industry changes. Most banks have said they expect earnings growth of 3-4% in 2020, similar to last year, versus their medium-term growth targets of double that rate. The executives spoke at RBC Capital Markets' Canadian Bank CEO conference, which was webcast and monitored by Reuters.įollowing a year in which most banks posted disappointing earnings growth on higher loan-loss provisions, subdued margin expansion and weak investment banking performance, analysts expect risks to outweigh opportunities in 2020. Royal Bank of Canada's (TO:RY) chief executive, meanwhile, said its focus will be on eliminating unproductive activities rather than employees, while Bank of Montreal's CEO (TO:BMO) acknowledged 'restructure fatigue' after the lender's repeated one-off charges over several reporting periods. TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Dominion Bank (TO:TD) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TO:CM) chief executives declined to rule out restructuring charges on Tuesday as Canadian banks turn to controlling costs to drive earnings growth in what is expected to be a tough year. Of the five, my top-rated stocks are TD, BNS, and RY.Ĭanada's TD, CIBC say restructuring possible in 2020 as RBC, BMO say no more cuts These Big Five banks pursue markedly different growth strategies. The Canadian banking sector is stable, well developed, highly competitive.Īlthough the macro environment for the Big Five bank stocks does not look as good as it did a year ago, they should still be core holdings for investors' portfolios. They are the most important players in virtually every financial service market in Canada.Ĭanada's banking industry is effectively an oligopoly, with a small number of banks controlling the lion's share of the system. The Big Five banks and their subsidiaries are the core of Canada's financial system. The 'Big Five' Canadian banks are a model of banking stability and financial reliability in the international banking industry. In Canadian banking, five banks stand above the rest. In alphabetical order, they are:īank of Nova Scotia or Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) (NYSE:BNS)Ĭanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (TSX:CM) (NYSE:CM) 'Big Five' is the name colloquially given to the five largest banks that dominate the banking industry in Canada. Canada's Big 5 Banks Today: 3 Buys And 2 Holds

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