The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the buzzwords of the U.S. banking crisis -- uninsured deposits, losses on bonds, interest-rate risk -- could be used to describe the banking industry in Canada as well. The Globe's David Milstead and Stefanie Marotta write that Canada's Big Six banks have nearly $30-billion in what are called "unrealized" losses in their securities portfolios. More than two-thirds of the losses are at the two banks that are currently expanding their already-significant operations in the United States: TD Bank, which has about $12-billion, and BMO, which has about $9-billion. The key for the two Canadian banks' health is that the losses are offset elsewhere on their balance sheets by financial hedging instruments that have produced profits, even as their bond portfolios have declined. That overall picture of Canadian banks' balance sheets reveals once again how the country's banks have largely been insulated from the problems facing the United States. Carl De Souza, a debt analyst for DBRS Morningstar, said that while having a large, concentrated banking sector may not be advantageous from a competitive standpoint, when crises come, "This structure really is proven, right?"
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