Market reaction to announcements of legislative changes and Canadian bank takeovers of Canadian investment dealers

Abstract

This study examines the market reactions of Canadian banks and investment dealers to regulatory changes regarding the ownership of investment dealers and to announcements of bank takeovers of investment dealers. The statistically significant and negative abnormal returns for the acquiring banks suggest that any potential benefits from economies of scope in joint bank/brokerage activities were totally reflected in the offering prices banks paid to target investment dealers. Consistent with the literature on mergers, positive and statistically significant excess returns are exhibited by the acquired investment dealers prior to takeover announcements. In-play and out-of-play rival (nontarget) investment dealers exhibit statistically significant positive and no abnormal returns, respectively. The findings of this study are consistent with competition in the market for the corporate control of investment dealers, and not with decreased competition in the brokerage industry. The findings imply that consumers of brokerage services are not harmed by takeovers. These findings may be useful to participants in the U.S. and Japanese financial markets as these countries undergo reforms similar to those recently experienced in Canada.