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No wonder Murenbeeld could never see gold price manipulation
"Unallocated gold" seller Bank of Nova Scotia (http://www.scotiamocatta.com/products/faq.htm) has owned 18 percent of DundeeWealth Inc., for which Murenbeeld is chief economist (https://www.dundeewealth.com/en/public/askTheExperts.htm), and has just bought the whole company.
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Scotiabank Strikes Deal for DundeeWealth
By Tim Kiladze, Tara Perkins, and Grant Robertson
The Globe and Mail, Toronto
Monday, November 22, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/scotiabank-strikes-deal-fo...
In its latest move to expand a growing wealth management business, Bank of Nova Scotia is buying the remaining 82 per cent of DundeeWealth Inc. it currently does not own for $2.3 billion.
The deal values DundeeWealth at $3.2 billion and the company's shareholders will get a mix of Bank of Nova Scotia common shares and either cash or 20 per cent of a preferred share for each DundeeWealth common share. DundeeWealth shareholders will also get a special distribution of $2 per share in cash and an interest in Dundee Capital Markets, which is being spun out.
The deal ties into Scotia's focus on global wealth management, which is now one of the bank's official operating segments.
"This is a great way to start our new fourth business line," the bank's president and chief executive officer Mr. Waugh said on a conference call Monday. "And I'm so delighted to be partnering with the Goodman family."
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Sona Drills 85.4g Gold/Ton Over 4 Metres at Elizabeth Gold Deposit,
Extending the Mineralization of the Southwest Vein on the Property
Company Press Release, October 27, 2010
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sona Resources Corp. reports on five drillling holes in the third round of assay results from the recently completed drill program at its 100 percent-owned Elizabeth Gold Deposit Property in the Lillooet Mining District of southern British Columbia. Highlights from the diamond drilling include:
-- Hole E10-66 intersected 17.4g gold/ton over 1.54 metres.
-- Hole E10-67 intersected 96.4g gold/ton over 2.5 metres, including one assay interval of 383g of gold/ton over 0.5 metres.
-- Hole E10-69 intersected 85.4g gold/ton over 4.03 metres, including one assay interval of 230g gold/ton over 1 metre.
Four drill holes, E10-66 to E10-69, targeted the southwestern end of the Southwest Vein, and three of the holes have expanded the mineralized zone in that direction. The Southwest Vein gold mineralization has now been intersected over a strike length of 325 metres, with the deepest hole drilled less than 200 metres from surface.
"The assay results from the Southwest Zone quartz vein continue to be extremely positive," says John P. Thompson, Sona's president and CEO. "We are expanding the Southwest Vein, and this high-grade gold mineralization remains wide open down dip and along strike to the southwest."
For the company's full press release, please visit:
http://sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR19_2010.pdf
Scotia first bought an 18 per cent stake in DundeeWealth three years ago and Mr. Waugh said the timing was right to buy the remaining portion.
"We have enjoyed a long and very successful relationship with both Dundee Corp. and DundeeWealth and there is a clear strategic alignment between our businesses," he said in a statement Monday.
However, Mr. Waugh added that the deal doesn't suggest Scotia is backing off its expansion in Latin America, where it has recently made acquisitions in Panama. "I don't think you can read into that at all," Mr. Waugh he said.
Once Scotia owns all of DundeeWealth, the bank will have to decide what to do with its investment in CI Financial, which it bought into in 2008. "Our first and foremost priority is to make this acquisition with Dundee very successful," said Chris Hodgson, group head for the bank's wealth management division.
"I wouldn't read too much into this in terms of where we will go next," he added. "I think this leaves us with options and we’ll certainly explore those in the future."
Despite the uncertainty about CI, analyst John Aiken at Barclays Capital noted the deal makes sense for Scotia. He said: "We believe that it is a very good acquisition for [Bank of Nova Scotia], which it forecasts will be earnings neutral in year one with a very limited impact on capital ratios."
He also was not surprised that the deal materialized. "While the ultimate acquisition was largely viewed as an inevitability by the market, the transaction occurred sooner than we had anticipated."
Scotiabank chief executive Rick Waugh has made wealth management a key priority for the bank in recent years, and has been bulking up in the business with a number of expansions.
Beginning in 2007, the bank bought Canadian online brokerage boutique TradeFreedom Securities Inc., followed by its sizable deal for Dundee Bank and its original stake in DundeeWealth. Around the same time, Scotiabank quietly began building an international wealth management business.
Then in 2008, the bank paid $2.3-billion to Sun Life Financial Inc. for a 37 per cent stake in mutual fund giant CI Financial.
The momentum continued this year when the bank reorganized its business lines in order to bolster its wealth management arm outside of Canada and highlight the growing importance of the global wealth management business. Scotiabank carved out a global wealth management division this fall, so that it would begin to report its quarterly results under four headings: Canadian banking, international banking, Scotia Capital, and global wealth management. Prior to that, the Canadian and international banking segments each held information on the wealth management business in those geographies.
As for DundeeWealth, currently Dundee Corp. owns 48 per cent of the business, but Ned Goodman, controlling shareholder of Dundee Corp., has already agreed to support the transaction. After the merger, David Goodman will remain as DundeeWealth's president and chief executive officer, heading the firm's investment management activities as well as its sales and distribution platforms.
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Prophecy Receives Permit To Mine at Ulaan Ovoo in Mongolia
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Prophecy Resource Corp. (TSX-V:PCY, OTCQX: PRPCF, Frankfurt: 1P2) announces that on November 9, 2010, it received the final permit to commence mining operations at its Ulaan Ovoo coal project in Mongolia. Prophecy is one of few international mining companies to achieve such a milestone. The mine is production-ready, with a mine opening ceremony scheduled for November 20.
Prophecy CEO John Lee said: "I thank the government of Mongolia for the expeditious way this permit was issued. The opening of Ulaan Ovoo is a testament to the industrious and skilled workforce in Mongolia. Prophecy directly and indirectly (through Leighton Asia) employs more than 65 competent Mongolian nationals and four expatriots. The company also reaffirms its commitment to deliver coal to the local Edernet and Darkhan powerplants in Mongolia."
The Ulaan Ovoo open pit mine is 10 kilometers from the Russian border and within 120km of the Nauski TransSiberian railway station, enabling transportation of coal to Russia and its eastern seaports. Thermal coal prices are trading at two-year highs at Russian seaports due to strong demand from Asian economies.
For the complete press release, please visit:
http://prophecyresource.com/news_2010_nov11.php
