Book Description

From the back cover: This book is about the challenge and the opportunity Japan offers to Canadian financial institutions. Canadian banks will have to move beyond their traditional commercial banking activities, where Japanese financial institutions have a well-established edge, into newer, more creative money and capital market activities. And traditional, strict lines between the various banking activities must blur in order for Canada to acquire the same breadth of financial expertise as other global players. Canadian banks also must blur the distinction they tend to make between their activities at home and in Japan. As for Canada's securities companies, today's strengths may become tomorrow's liability. Securities companies are thriving today because their role as the main intermediaries in the massive flow of fund from Japanese institutional investors into Canadian government bonds. Tomorrow, however they could be vulnerable because of such heavy reliance on a single financial activity. The massive flow of Japanese capital Canadian securities is one of the public policy issues discussed. The most important, in the authors' opinion, is the nature and pace of deregulation. The authors argue that Canada must open itself to foreign financial institutions, not only to expose itself to the reality of competitive pressures, but also to forge the links and collaborative arrangements needed to survive and prosper.