The Bank of Canada announced in late November that Governor Mark Carney will take over England’s central bank next year. Carney will serve a five-year term as Governor of the Bank of England, starting July 1, 2013.
Carney will remain in his current position until June 1. He will also remain as chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a position he assumed for a three-year term in November 2011. The FSB is an international agency that coordinates the work of national and international authorities to promote implementation of policies and reforms aimed at financial stability.
Meanwhile, Carney has encountered controversy in recent weeks after a Globe and Mail story detailed his apparent consideration of a bid for the federal Liberal Party leadership.
Liberal efforts to court Carney were widely reported, but only recently did it come to light that Carney seemed to consider them carefully, going as far as vacationing with Liberal MP Scott Brison.
RIM seeks Turnaround with January BB10 Launch
Research in Motion (RIM) had a challenging year with sagging stock prices, mass layoffs, and product delays of its BlackBerry 10 smartphone, losing market share at a rapid pace.
However, the company hopes for a turnaround with the Jan. 30 debut of the BB10 touch-screen phone. This week RIM launched a BB10 beta-testing program involving over 120 customers, including 64 Fortune 500 companies.
According to market research firm IDC, the BlackBerry will battle Microsoft Windows Phone for No. 3 spot in the worldwide mobile phone market in 2013, after Google Inc. and Apple Inc.
In the lead-up to the Dec. 20 release of Q3 results, RIM’s share prices have more than doubled since late September, when the company posted Q2 results that were more positive than many expected.
In 2012 the Waterloo-based iconic company managed to continue growing its subscriber base, now at 80 million, despite delay of the BB10 launch and Q1 results that were far worse than pessimistic predictions.
In a major leadership overhaul in January, COO Thorsten Heins took over as CEO, replacing co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
To cut costs by at least $1 billion by fiscal year-end, Heins closed manufacturing facilities and announced layoffs of 5,000 employees from its 16,500-strong workforce.
Canadians Face Rising Household Debt
The rising indebtedness of Canadian households has remained a key risk to the financial system in 2012, with the federal government continuing to warn Canadians to ensure their borrowing is in line with their ability to service their debt.
