OSFI is 'very worried' about Canadians' financial health: Routledge
BNN Bloomberg
The head of Canada’s banking regulator said he’s worried about how higher borrowing rates will affect Canadian households, and also relieved that the country’s mortgage stress test was strengthened one year ago.
“If you're asking, ‘Are you worried as rates continue to rise, that will put stress on Canadian households,’ yeah, we're very worried about that. And we're constantly looking at what we can do to add a bit more resilience into the system,” said Peter Routledge, the head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), in an interview Tuesday.
It was effective June 1, 2021 that OSFI raised the bar for its minimum qualifying rate for uninsured borrowers (ie, those who make a down payment of at least 20 per cent), requiring them to prove they could handle mortgage payments of either 5.25 per cent or their contract rate plus two percentage points – whichever was higher. The regulator also built in a yearly review of the test as part of the framework.
It’s a move that Routledge said is now paying off.
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The chief executive of National Bank of Canada says he’s not changing the bank’s strategy because of the war in the Middle East, but he is urging a faster response from Canada to rising threats abroad.
With airstrikes still battering Iran and missiles still targeting sites across the Middle East, some of the optimism that sent stocks rallying the day before drained out of Wall Street on Tuesday. Oil prices got back to rising, and U.S. stocks are returning some of their gains.
A large explosion at an oil refinery near the Texas coast shot plumes of smoke into the air and forced nearby residents to shelter in place, officials said.
Oil prices rise and stocks fall as war with Iran still advances despite Trump’s talk of negotiations
U.S. markets ticked slightly lower and oil prices rose early Tuesday as the war in the Middle East continued a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had made progress in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the conflict.
U.S. markets ticked slightly lower and oil prices rose early Tuesday as the war in the Middle East continued a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had made progress in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the conflict.
Bank of Montreal said on Tuesday it plans to roll out tokenized cash capabilities in collaboration with CME Group and Google Cloud, as it seeks to meet rising demand for real‑time payments amid a global shift toward around‑the‑clock trading.
From rolled steel to kitchen cabinets, Canadian businesses hit by targeted U.S. tariffs are struggling to respond as the trade war drags into its second year.
Global benchmarks mostly rebounded Tuesday, in a mood of cautious relief after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States has talked with Iran about a possible end to their war.
It’s that time of the year again, tax time, a time to file your annual return with the Canadian Revenue Agency.
Gold seen as overbought as Iran tensions ease, with falling oil prices lifting stocks and shifting investor sentiment toward risk assets.
Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. rallied after President Donald Trump said the United States has talked with Iran about a possible end to the war.