While governments around the world are buying their country's banks, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants his country's banks to remain private and expand internationally through acquisition.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the prime minister said the country's major banks -- Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX: BNS), Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM) -- should expand their country's image abroad by buying foreign competitors.
"I'm not going to try running banks, but I hope our banks will see this as an opportunity to build the brand -- the country's brand, their own brand -- and to expand their scope and profitability over time," Harper told the London-based paper in a front-page story.
He added: "I can assure you that the steps we [the Canadian government] are taking in the financial sector will not be designed to promote greater protectionism."
Harper said the banks should be looking to buy assets in the U.S. and other countries, and that he would support efforts because they present "an opportunity for Canada to expand its role in the world financial sector."
Canada's banks have remained profitable, taken no government bailout money and retained their dividend throughout the recent financial crisis, to a large degree because of tighter financial regulation than in the U.S.
"Canada itself has shown that if you have a reasonable system of regulation, there is no need for governments to be nationalizing banks and directing executive compensation and trying to micromanage economic activity," said Harper, who was trained as an economist. - Peter Moreira
See earlier post about Canadian banks refusing government aid
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