$RY

RBC CEO Dave McKay remains optimistic about US-Canada trade relations despite tensions, citing the USMCA agreement. RBC increased credit loss provisions by 54% in 2025 to prepare for potential downturns. The bank has diversified operations, with wealth management and capital markets outperforming commercial banking. City National Bank, acquired by RBC, has recovered from past losses, reporting $184M net income in Q1 2026, up from $52M in 2024.

RBC Wealth Management hired a team from UBS, led by Raymond Nepa and Jennifer Susco, overseeing $1B in assets. The team focuses on ultra-high-net-worth clients. RBC aims to add 600 advisors by 2029. UBS and RBC are among firms facing higher recruiting costs in the wealth management industry.

RBC Investor Services (RBCIS) will provide ETF services for NEI Investments' new ETF series, which began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The four funds are NEI Global Short-Term Bond Fund (NESB), NEI Conservative Income ETF Portfolio (NECP), NEI Balanced ETF Portfolio (NEBP), and NEI Growth ETF Portfolio (NEGP). RBCIS will handle administration, securities lending, and other services.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T) led Q3 share buybacks with $2.3B, followed by Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T). Insider buying was absent in these top buybacks. Zodiac Gold (TXG-T) saw a 40.9% rally since July, with $117.4M in buybacks and insider buying. Other companies with buybacks and insider activity include Nutrien (NTR-T), Trican Well Service (TCW-T), and Rockpoint Gas Storage (RGSI-T).

RBC Global Asset Management, owning 9.3 million units, will vote against H&R REIT's takeover by GO Residential. Mill Pond Capital, with 2.2 million units, also opposes the deal, citing concerns about asset sales and preferential treatment. H&R's units have fallen 13% since the takeover announcement.

The TSX Composite Index dropped 1.6% to 35,083.56, driven by declines in financials and resources. Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.8% and Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 2.8%. Investors anticipate a rate hike by the Bank of Canada. U.S. stocks also fell, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq declining. Treasury yields rose to multi-decade highs, impacting bank and tech stocks.

The Open Source Enterprise Resiliency Alliance (OSERA), backed by major banks like Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, has launched to standardize and fix vulnerabilities in open source software used by financial institutions. Within 100 days, OSERA established a patching standard, delivered fixes for over 50 Java ecosystem projects, and plans to produce 80 patches monthly. The alliance aims to reduce redundant efforts and strengthen software security in the financial industry.

The UK government appointed six banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, RBC) to lead the issuance of its first digitally native bond, DIGIT, expected by Q1 2027. The pilot will test distributed ledger technology for sovereign debt issuance and settlement. Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby announced the appointments during UK Digital Assets Week.

JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and RBC ranked highest in the Evident AI Index, which evaluates the 50 largest banks globally on AI adoption. The index aims to identify leaders in AI implementation within the banking sector.

The UK Treasury selected Barclays, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, and RBC Capital Markets as joint lead managers for a pilot digital gilt issuance by Q1 2027. HSBC will provide the blockchain platform for the project, aiming to modernize capital markets and explore tokenization benefits.