Bank of America’s new CEO says he doesn’t expect to lead a major shift in strategy at the nation’s largest bank when he takes over from Ken Lewis on Jan. 1.

B ritain’s banking regulator has fined Toronto-Dominion Bank’s TD-T London operations �7-million ($12-million) for repeated failings in the systems and controls it uses to price sophisticated financial products, the fourth largest such fine ever levied by the Financial Services Authority. The fine relates to activities that occurred between July, 2006, and June, 2008, and would have been �10-million except the regulator gave TD a 30-per-cent discount for co-operating at an early stage of its investigation.

I n a striking reversal of its attempts to unwind the government’s financial stakes in big banks, the Treasury Department has backed out of plans to sell its 34 per cent stake in Citigroup Inc. The move came after investors responded tepidly to a massive stock offer by the New York-based bank. Citi said Wednesday it will sell 5.4 million common shares at a steep discount to raise the cash it needs to repay $20-billion (U.S.) of the $45-billion in government support it received to weather the financial crisis.

C anadians are again starting to pay more for most things they consume as the inflation rate jumped to 1 per cent in November, the second straight month prices have risen sharply. While higher gasoline prices were mostly to blame, Statistics Canada said the advance was broad-based. Prices rose in seven of eight major components tracked by the agency, and in all 10 provinces

B CE Inc. BCE-T is boosting its dividend by 7 per cent, on the heels of a 5 per cent increase announced in August. The increase in the dividend is part of a plan for its cash that will also see the Montreal-based phone giant spend $500-million buying backs shares and making a $500-million contribution to its pension plan

S ony Corp. SNE-N , headed for its second straight year of losses, unveiled a far-reaching turnaround strategy last month but one which has so far failed to stir up investor appetite for its shares. The stock has underperformed its peers and the broader market despite the ambitious plan, under which it will launch 3D TVs and online content distribution service next year and aims to control 20 per cent of the LCD TV market in 2012

Alert us to this comment Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor’s rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem. Close