A week after one of the most powerful hurricanes in the past half-century pounded Caribbean islands and the southern United States, Canadian banks that operate in the affected regions are sorting through the destruction and working to restore essential services. Story (James Bradshaw and Christina Pellegrini)
DEALS AND FINANCINGS
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved the purchase of Scottrade Financial Services by Toronto-Dominion Bank,bringing together two of the biggest U.S. discount brokerages, TD Ameritrade and Scottrade. Story
Toronto-based Sam:) is being acquired by New York-based Hugging Face, which offers an AI chatbot that can talk to you – and even trade selfies. Story (Betakit)
Toronto-based DeepLearni.ng has raised a $9-million Series A from Fidelity Investments. Story (Betakit)
U.S. President Donald Trump blocked a Chinese-backed private equity firm from buying a U.S. chipmaker on Wednesday, sending a clear signal to Beijing that Washington will oppose deals that involve technologies with potential military applications. Story (Reuters)
Toshiba Corp said on Wednesday it has agreed to focus on selling its prized chips unit to a group led by Bain Capital and South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, although it is not ruling out a deal with other bidders. Story (Reuters)
WHAT WE'RE READING
UBS Group AG sees bank profits under pressure as European regulations force lenders to charge for research, breaking apart a decades-old business model that's prompted a race to provide the cheapest offering. Story (Bloomberg)
On Wall Street, pay negotiations going into a new job are an art form – a cat and mouse game where an employer tries to low ball and the lead candidate tries to inflate their worth as much as possible. This could all change. A new law passed in New York in May prevents employers from asking about salary history. Suddenly, there's a new game to play in the search for a new finance job. Story (efinancialcareers)
Booze, drugs and fistfights: Another summer in the Hamptons Story (Institutional Investor)
Goldman Sachs has a plan to get its trading mojo back. The only thing standing in its way is literally every other bank on Wall Street. Story (Wall Street Journal, subscribers)
Wall Street firms have been paying millions of dollars to lobby for significant rollbacks of rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. But some of these restrictions can't be entirely thrown out, even if lawmakers overturn them on paper, because they have already had a lasting transformative effect on markets. Story (Bloomberg)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
National Bank of Canada's shift away from being the lender of choice to junior oil companies was an unpleasant process, but it has provided the institution with stability in the energy sector, its chief executive officer says. Story (Jeffrey Jones, subscribers)
Roy Gori has yet to officially take over as chief executive officer of Manulife Financial Corp., but he's already making sweeping changes to its international executive lineup that offer insights into his strategic priorities. Story (Jacqueline Nelson, subscribers)