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Amaya raised its adjusted profit forecast for 2016, citing better-than-expected results in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31., helped by its casino games and a successful relaunch in Portugal.© Christinne Muschi / Reuters

The Ontario Securities Commission has accused fund manager Ben Cheng and three other Bay Street players of securities-law violations in connection with a leaked takeover offer in 2014 by online gambling company Amaya Inc.

The OSC alleges that Mr. Cheng, who was president of Aston Hill Financial Inc. at the time, illegaly tipped an Aston Hill sales manager, John David Rothstein, about Amaya's $4.9-billion (U.S.) takeover of the parent company of online gambling operation PokerStars and encouraged him to share the information with others. The OSC action also named Eric Tremblay, then chief executive officer of Aston Hill, and Frank Soave, who was an investment advisor at CIBC.

The allegations stem from a multi-year investigation into the acquisition of PokerStars parent Rational Group by Montreal-based Amaya. Story

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CIBC to move 15,000 staff to new downtown Toronto headquarters

Canada's fifth-largest bank is moving its headquarters south, anchoring two new towers that promise to redraw Toronto's skyline and extend the Bay Street financial corridor.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will be the lead tenant in a forthcoming development, known today as Bay Park Centre, to begin construction this spring. The connected towers will rise 49 floors each at 81 and 141 Bay Street, facing Union Station and the Air Canada Centre and straddling the train tracks that traverse the downtown core. Story

Barclays extends Canadian coverage by landing veteran Credit Suisse financier

Investment bank Barclays Capital Canada Inc. ramped up its coverage of Canada on Wednesday by landing veteran financier Erik Charbonneau from rival Credit Suisse AG.

Mr. Charbonneau will fill a number of senior roles at Barclays, including a role previously staffed by bankers based in New York. He will join the firm, which has 75 employees in Canada, as head of equity capital markets (ECM), a role he held for the past 11 years at Credit Suisse. The job means Mr. Charbonneau is responsible for helping corporate clients raise money by selling stock. In the past, Barclays ran its Canadian ECM team from Manhattan. Adding an experienced Toronto-based executive is expected to win the investment bank a larger stake in Canadian equity offerings, as ECM is a corner of the market where strong relationships with both corporations and rival banks help to win roles in transactions. Story

DAILY DEALS

BlackBerry shares rose 15 per cent on Wednesday after a surprise announcement that it had won back $815-million (U.S.) in patent royalty payments in an arbitrated settlement with semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc. Story

A U.S. coal mine and health-care executive who bid for U.S. Steel Canada Inc. is trying to make a bid for Essar Steel Algoma Inc. with the backing of the United Steelworkers union. Story

ELSEWHERE IN FINANCE

Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton Ltd. said on Wednesday a minor shareholder's proposal to overhaul its corporate structure and spin off its U.S. oil division was flawed and would involve costs far beyond any benefits. Story

Cyber security breaches erode companies' share prices permanently, with financials the worst hit, a study issued by IT consultant CGI and Oxford Economics has found. Story

Every number you ever wanted to know behind the Fast and the Furious franchise. Story (Bloomberg)

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