'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to pay $13.5-billion in cash for HSBC Bank Canada in what is the largest domestic banking deal on record.
The acquisition, at a scale not seen in Canada in decades, would secure RBC's spot as the country's largest bank as it looks to establish itself as the hub for a more globalized clientele.
"It's a unique, once in a generation opportunity to leverage all the investments we've already made in building a world-class retail and commercial bank," said chief executive Dave McKay on an analyst call.
The deal will see it take over about $134 billion in HSBC assets including a significant mortgage book, but RBC sees it more as a way to add to its client base. That includes the commercial side as well as wealthy clients and newcomers.
"That we're bringing in, first and foremost, commercial banking capability, globally connected clients, trade finance and multi-currency accounts, and preferential access to the next generation of clients," said McKay.
The bank expects to achieve cost savings of about $740 million for 2024, or about 55 per cent of HSBC Canada's current expense base, through a combination of integrating technology, closures among the 130 branches, and job cuts.
Neil McLaughlin, group head of personal and commercial banking at RBC, said there will be reductions but the bank does hope to absorb many of the 4,200 current HSBC Canada employees.
"There are obviously places we will not require the same number of FTE (full-time equivalent jobs) to service the combined client base. We have looked at that, and we feel very strongly that the number of open jobs we have across our business, and looking at where those FTE's are, we'll be able to welcome those employees in."
The deal will require approval from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Competition Bureau, and the Ministry of Finance, but McKay said that as HSBC Canada has a market share of two per cent or less, he doesn't see areas of concern.
"We are not aware of any areas where the bureau is likely to have concern," said McKay. "This is still a relatively small bank by market share."
RBC expects the deal to close by late 2023 subject to closing conditions and regulatory approval.
Global banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC said earlier this year that it was reviewing strategic options for its Canadian subsidiary including the possible sale of the operations.
HSBC Group chief executive Noel Quinn said the bank decided to sell the Canadian business after a thorough review that concluded that there was a material value upside from selling.
"The deal makes strategic sense for both parties, and RBC will take the business to the next level," Quinn said in a statement.
"Our group strategy is unchanged, and closing this transaction will free up additional capital to invest in growing our core businesses and to return to shareholders."
The last time Canada's banking industry saw a deal of this scale was TD Bank Group's acquisition of Canada Trust in 1999 for about $8 billion, which is the equivalent of about $13.1 billion adjusted for inflation.
TD made the deal after the federal government blocked proposed mergers between RBC and Bank of Montreal as well as between TD and CIBC in 1998, which established a convention that mergers between the Big Five banks would not be allowed to go ahead.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2022
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.