Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Full Chapter Optimal Mean Reversion Trading Mathematical Analysis and Practical Applications Tim Leung PDF
Full Chapter Optimal Mean Reversion Trading Mathematical Analysis and Practical Applications Tim Leung PDF
https://textbookfull.com/product/beginning-power-apps-the-non-
developer-s-guide-to-building-business-applications-2nd-edition-
tim-leung/
https://textbookfull.com/product/beginning-power-apps-the-non-
developers-guide-to-building-business-mobile-applications-2nd-
edition-tim-leung/
https://textbookfull.com/product/stochastic-linear-quadratic-
optimal-control-theory-differential-games-and-mean-field-
problems-jingrui-sun/
https://textbookfull.com/product/mathematical-theory-of-optimal-
processes-l-s-pontryagin/
Mathematical Analysis and Applications 1st Edition
Themistocles M. Rassias
https://textbookfull.com/product/mathematical-analysis-and-
applications-1st-edition-themistocles-m-rassias/
https://textbookfull.com/product/mathematical-analysis-and-
applications-selected-topics-1st-edition-michael-ruzhansky/
https://textbookfull.com/product/current-trends-in-mathematical-
analysis-and-its-interdisciplinary-applications-hemen-dutta/
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-psychology-of-successful-
trading-behavioural-strategies-for-profitability-tim-short/
https://textbookfull.com/product/probabilistic-theory-of-mean-
field-games-with-applications-i-mean-field-fbsdes-control-and-
games-1st-edition-rene-carmona/
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case pennission to photocopy
is not required from the publisher.
There are more than eight thousand national banks in the United
States, but Canada has only sixteen. While new ones are organized
in our country every month, the number in Canada tends constantly
to grow less, and to-day is not half what it was twenty years ago. The
banking system of the Dominion is patterned somewhat after the
Scotch, and was worked out largely by men of that shrewd, hard-
headed race. The people think it suits their conditions better than
any other. Certainly it is true that while Canada has had its ups and
downs, the people have suffered far less than we from bank failures
and panics.
One might think that with all the banking business of Canada
monopolized by only sixteen institutions, they might make fabulous
profits. However, such is not the case. I have before me the current
monthly statement which the government publishes regarding the
condition and operation of each bank. This shows that all are making
money, but their dividends range from six to sixteen per cent., and
the Bank of Nova Scotia is the only one that paid the highest rate.
Nine of the banks paid twelve per cent. on their capital stock last
year, while the shareholders of five got less than ten per cent.
In the United States a handful of business men can start a bank
on a few thousand dollars. Here it is not so easy a matter. Canadian
law requires a minimum capital of five hundred thousand dollars, half
of which must be paid in, before a bank can be chartered, and there
are other conditions to be met that make the establishment of a new
bank a big undertaking. The smallest bank in Canada, at Weyburn,
Saskatchewan, is the only one with a capital of less than one million
dollars, while the largest, the Bank of Montreal, has paid-up stock
amounting to twenty-seven and one quarter millions. The total
combined capital of all the banks is one hundred and twenty-three
millions.
The great banks extend their service throughout the Dominion by
means of branches. These now number nearly five thousand, and
new ones are being constantly added. The branch plan is the most
striking difference between Canada’s banking system and ours,
which prohibits the establishment of branches except within a bank’s
home city, and, under certain regulations, in foreign countries. The
larger Canadian banks are represented by their own branches in
every city, from coast to coast, while the Bank of Montreal alone has
more than six hundred agencies. Nearly all the banks have their
head offices in Eastern Canada. Six of them are located in the
province of Quebec, seven in Ontario, and one each in Nova Scotia,
Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Three of the banks in Quebec are
controlled by the French Canadians. Their combined capital is just
under nine million dollars, or not quite half that of the Royal Bank of
Canada, the second largest in the Dominion.
An official of the Canadian Bankers’ Association has explained to
me some of the advantages of this system. He said:
When the discoverers sailed up the St. Lawrence
to what is now Montreal they thought these rapids just
above the city blocked their passage to China, and so
named them “La Chine.”
Montreal’s rise as a great port began a century
ago when the Lachine Canal was built around the
rapids, and gave the city a water passage to the
upper St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.
Many homes have the Rideau Canal and its fringe
of park at their front door. Built originally for military
reasons, the canal now makes possible a boat trip
through the Rideau Lakes to the St. Lawrence.
“Our plan of branch banks is based partly on the principle that
there is more strength in a bundle of fagots joined together than
there is in the same number of sticks taken separately. Poor
management or bad times, under your system, may bring disaster to
a single bank, whereas with us losses in any branch would be easily
absorbed in a great volume of business covering the whole country,
and the shock hardly felt at all. Under our system it is a simple
matter for a bank to concentrate its funds in the districts where they
are most needed, and money flows easily into the channels where
there is the greatest demand. This is of the utmost importance to
Canada, for we have limited capital, and therefore must keep it liquid
at all times.
“Canada is still a young country, not yet done with pioneering,
and its banks must lend a hand in promoting its development. When
a branch bank is opened in a tent or shack in a new mining camp,
the people know that the manager is there to give them service, and
that he represents a strong institution with millions in assets. A
remote fishing village or new paper-mill town is thus provided with
banking facilities quite as effective as those of Montreal or Toronto.
The difference in rates of interest charged is never more than two
per cent., no matter how remote from the money centre a branch
bank may be. The only reason it is ever higher is that where the
operations of a branch bank are small, the overhead expenses are
proportionately greater, and must be compensated for by the bank’s
customers. In recent years our wheat farmers of southern
Saskatchewan have been getting money cheaper than have the
farmers of your North Dakota, just over the border. The banks
represented in our three prairie provinces frequently have more
money on loan in that territory than the sum total of the deposits in
all their branches in the same area.”
The banks of Canada all obtain their charters from the Dominion
government, and their operations are strictly defined by law. This
law, known as the Canadian Banking Act, dates from 1870, and it
automatically comes up in Parliament for revision every ten years.
Under the act, the banks are permitted to issue paper money, which
ordinarily must not exceed the amount of their capital. Shareholders
are made liable for the redemption of bank notes up to the amount of
twice the value of the capital stock. In addition, each bank is required
to keep on deposit with the government a sum equal to five per cent.
of its note circulation. This goes into what is called the redemption
fund, which was created to make it absolutely certain that in case of
the failure of a bank, all its notes will be redeemed at face value.
During the period from September to February, when the crops are
moving to market, the banks may issue notes to fifteen per cent. in
excess of their capital, but must pay a tax of five per cent. on all such
extra circulation.
Canada’s banks are not audited by government examiners, as
with us, but each bank must submit a monthly statement of its
condition to the Minister of Finance. These reports are more detailed
than our bank statements and are regularly published by the
government. They show, among other things, the amount each bank
has loaned to members of its board of directors, or to firms in which
they are partners. The banks are not allowed to lend money on real
estate; this service is confined to loan and mortgage companies.
Nearly all the chartered banks of Canada conduct savings banks and
many of them also operate trust companies. The activities of the
latter are almost exclusively confined to acting as trustees and as
administrators of estates.
In the relations between the banks and the government, the
Canadian Bankers’ Association plays an important part. It has a
semi-official status, in that it was incorporated by special act of
Parliament, and is recognized as the joint representative of all the
chartered banks. It establishes clearing houses, supervises the
issues of bank notes, and manages the central gold reserves. The
chief executive officers of the Association are frequently consulted
by the government on financial questions.
During my stay in Montreal I had an interview with Sir Frederick
Williams-Taylor, president of the Association and general manager of
the Bank of Montreal, the oldest and largest financial institution in
Canada. In the Dominion, the chief executive of a bank is called the
manager. While the president occupies an important position as
chairman of the board of directors, he has not the same relation to
the daily transaction of business as is usually the case with us.
Canada’s banks are likewise distinguished for the long service of the
men in charge of their affairs. At the Bank of Montreal, for example,
the president and manager have put in, between them, nearly one
hundred years with the one institution. In all the banks, as a rule, the
men in authority have risen from the ranks to their present positions.
The Bank of Montreal is one of the great banks of the world. It
was founded more than one hundred years ago, about the time that
James Monroe was beginning his first term as President of the
United States. In those days, there was still fresh in the minds of the
Canadians knowledge of disastrous financial methods that had been
common in both the American colonies and Canada. In the time of
the French, for example, one of the governors, not receiving funds
expected from home, cut playing cards into small pieces, and wrote
thereon the government’s promises to pay. These he distributed
among his unpaid soldiers, and “card money,” as it was called,
continued to circulate for a great many years. Our own colony of
Massachusetts, learning of this easy method of “making” money,
produced a similar currency which later led to the phrase “not worth
a continental.” Even after banks were established in Canada, their
notes had different values in various parts of the country.
The home of the Bank of Montreal in St. James Street faces the
old Place d’Armes, a large square where formerly stood the
stockade built for protection against the Indians. Now it is the centre
of the financial district of Montreal, and, indeed, of all Canada. Of the
total capital of Canada’s banks, considerably more than half is held
by institutions having their main offices in this city.
When I went to call upon Sir Frederick, I passed through a
doorway supported by huge Corinthian pillars. Once inside, I found a
banking room larger than any I have ever seen in the United States.
Its great size, and the rows of counters and wicket windows
reminded me somewhat of the New York railroad stations and their
batteries of ticket offices. The roof, more than one hundred feet
above the floor, is supported by columns of black granite from
Vermont, each as big around as a flour barrel and as bright as
polished jet. The building has not the shine and new look of some of
our great banks, but everything about it is stately, and the servants
are as imposing as those of the Bank of England. A sleek, black-
haired attendant, who looked like Jerry Cruncher, wearing a blue suit
trimmed with red and a bright red vest with brass buttons, ushered
me into Sir Frederick’s office.
In speaking about Canadian banking, Sir Frederick said:
“By means of our branches in all parts of Canada we have our
hand on the pulse of the whole country. Every one of the great banks
receives constantly from its own representatives accurate
information of the state of business in his locality. We do not have to
depend upon friendly correspondents or outside agencies, but know
promptly and at first hand just what is going on. In this way we can
always anticipate the needs of a particular section, and act
accordingly. We can see the signs of any trouble ahead, and adopt
measures to prevent disaster. The managers of our branches are
responsible directly to us, and are therefore not likely to be
influenced so much by purely local considerations as might be the
case under a different system. On the other hand, it is our practice to
include in our board of directors men who reside in western and
central Canada, and are therefore in close touch with conditions in
those sections.”
“With such sources of information,” I said, “you should be in a
position to judge of the condition of Canada as a whole. I wish you
would tell me, Sir Frederick, just how you see her situation?”
“Canada is suffering from three great disadvantages,” he replied.
“I don’t wish to emphasize our troubles, but there is no country
without them, and we have our share, just as does the United States.
Our handicaps are the high cost of living, high taxation, and loss of
population.”
“But is Canada losing population?” I asked.
“I have mentioned these difficulties in the inverse order of their
importance,” said Sir Frederick. “Our loss of population is not only
the most serious problem, but it grows out of the other two. Here we
are, a nation of some eight million people. To the south of us is your
country, with a population twelve times as great. You are the richest
country in the world to-day. Canada occupies the north end of the
continent, and while she is larger than the United States in area, and
can match you in some of her natural resources, there are some
things that we lack. For example, we cannot grow cotton. We have
no hard coal. Most of our soft coal lies on our coasts, while a great
part of our industry and population is located in the eastern and
central sections of the country. This year, I believe, our bill for coal
from the United States will be something like one hundred and
twenty-five million dollars, or nearly thirteen dollars per capita of our
total population.
“We used to be a country of low costs and low taxes,” continued
Sir Frederick. “Now we are nearly up to you with regard to both the
cost of living and high taxes. On the other hand, you have created a
partial vacuum in the United States by your restrictions on
immigration. These do not, however, apply to Canadians. Just as
great bodies exercise a certain power of attraction upon smaller
ones, so your one hundred and ten millions draw upon our eight
millions. You are admitting fewer immigrants than your country could
easily absorb, with the result that you afford opportunities to our
people to better their condition. Strange as it may seem to you, there
are many of us who prefer, no matter what happens, to live our lives
under the British flag, but there are also others to whom this does
not seem so important. It is they who drift over to you.”
While Sir Frederick thus outlined the problems confronting his
country, his further remarks made it quite clear that he firmly believes
in her future and is proud that he has a part in her development.
In talking with business men, I find that they consider that
Canada has been especially fortunate in the extension of her banks
abroad. The Royal Bank of Canada and others have branches in the
United States and Great Britain, as well as in France and Spain. The
branch banks of Canada furnish the entire banking system of
Newfoundland, and I have myself done business with their branches
in the course of my travels in South and Central America, the British
and other European West Indies, Cuba, and Mexico. Canada’s
branch banks have gone to those countries with which the Dominion
has the largest foreign trade, and are an important factor in
promoting Canadian business abroad. They furnish Canadian
exporters with first hand data on markets, tariffs, and credits in
foreign countries. They help to finance exports and also aid the
importers to secure materials they need from other lands. An
American banking expert has made the statement that with the
exception of Great Britain, Canada has the best banking facilities for
foreign trade of any country in the world.
I find that the Dominion is gaining in financial strength. In the last
ten years the assets of her banks have increased seventy per cent.,
and the bank deposits have practically doubled. At the same time the
value of her production, both in agriculture and industry, has
mounted far above what it was before the World War. There is much
evidence to show that the people themselves are better off than they
used to be. For one thing, they have nearly two thousand million
dollars on deposit in the chartered banks, an average of one
hundred and eighty-eight dollars per person. They are buying more
life insurance than ever before, the total value of the policies now in
force in Canada amounting to over three thousand five hundred
millions of dollars. If they continue to increase at the present rate, by
1947 the lives of Canadians will be insured to the amount of more
than twelve thousand millions. This insurance represents a sum that
will be sufficient to buy three million homes, to keep in comfort
sixteen hundred and eighty thousand people, or to educate about
four million Canadian children.
“From my window overlooking the wooded ravine
through which the Rideau Canal descends in locks to
the Ottawa River. I can see the towers of the
university-like quadrangle of government buildings.”
The library of Parliament stands on the high bank
of the Ottawa River, a bit of old England in the
Canadian capital. It survived the fire that destroyed
the House and Senate chambers.
CHAPTER XI
OTTAWA—THE CAPITAL OF THE DOMINION