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Reuters Canada Business Summary

26/09/07

GM and UAW settle strike

DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp struck a groundbreaking deal on Wednesday, ending a two-day strike by agreeing to create a health-care trust fund that will reduce the automaker's costs. The agreement allows GM to shift more than $50 billion of retiree health-care liabilities to an independent union-aligned trust -- a breakthrough expected to allow Detroit automakers to cut in half a labor-cost gap against Japanese competitors.

Macquarie Bank to acquire Canada broker Orion

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian investment bank Macquarie Bank Ltd will buy Canadian investment and brokerage firm Orion Financial Ltd for about C$147 million ($146 million) in cash and stock. Macquarie said the employee-owned Orion, which specializes in the resources sector, will be a good fit with Macquarie's broader global resources strategy.

Air Canada jumps 5 percent as outlook improves

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Air Canada shares jumped 5 percent on Wednesday, extending gains on the strength of the domestic currency and healthy traffic numbers. Air Canada's A series shares were up 62 cents at C$13.45 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, their highest since late July.

Stocks lifted by banks, end of GM strike

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index climbed for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, boosted by rising bank stocks and optimism about the Canadian economy after an agreement was reached to end a strike at the U.S. operations of General Motors Corp . The S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> closed up 37.35 points, or 0.3 percent, at 14,034.97, with seven of its 10 main groups higher.

CI cuts Scotiabank condition from DundeeWealth bid

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - CI Financial Income Fund dropped a key condition on Wednesday from its C$2.4 billion takeover bid for DundeeWealth Inc , hoping to persuade the family-controlled Canadian wealth manager to accept its offer. CI Financial, Canada's second-largest nonbank wealth manager, said it is removing the clause that demanded parent Dundee Corp scrap a deal to sell a stake in DundeeWealth to Bank of Nova Scotia .

CN Railway to buy Chicago-based rail line

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian National Railway Co agreed to buy most of Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co on Wednesday, a deal aimed at easing congestion plaguing CN's operations in Chicago. Canada's largest railway said it will pay $300 million for the bulk of the railway now owned by United States Steel Corp , which will retain the operations of the EJ&E serving its Gary Works mill in Gary, Indiana.

Canadian police charge Portus founders with fraud

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police charged the two co-founders of now-defunct Portus Alternative Asset Management Inc with 12 counts of fraud, money laundering, and possession of property obtained by crime on Wednesday, the result of a lengthy international investigation. A bail hearing at Ontario Superior Court for one of the accused Canadians, Michael Mendelson, 41, was delayed on Wednesday to October 10.

Dollar falls victim to stronger greenback

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar finished lower against the U.S. currency on Wednesday, edging further from parity, as a rebound by the greenback erased the benefit of higher oil prices. Domestic bond prices, with no Canadian data to influence moves until the end of the week, turned lower and handed back some of the gains recorded last week.

Canada bank body wants single securities regulator

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada needs a national regulator for its securities industry to cut the costs of compliance for companies and to increase the country's competitiveness, the head of the Canadian Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Canada's fragmented system of 13 separate provincial and territorial regulators has been widely criticized both inside and outside the country for being inefficient and expensive, and poor at catching white-collar criminals.

AGF Management third-quarter profit, sales rise

OTTAWA (Reuters) - AGF Management reported an 8.5 percent increase in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, on the back of a big jump in sales of mutual funds and revenue gains. Canada's third-largest publicly traded fund management firm reported net income from continuing operations of C$39.4 million ($39.2 million), or 43 Canadian cents a share, for the three months ended August 31.

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