Toronto-Dominion Bank would end up with a smaller stake in a larger brokerage if Schwab and TD Ameritrade combined. But it could parlay that stake into funds for a U.S. bank acquisition.
Five years into Victor Dodig's time as chief executive officer of CIBC, the performance gap between Canada's fifth-largest bank and its peers is as wide as ever.
Completing the deal before the new year would let the merged company avoid an earnings hit in complying with the Current Expected Credit Loss accounting standard and give it more flexibility on capital adjustments.
Earlier this decade, a boom in low-cost prepaid cards undercut the firm's business model. Now the fiercest competition is coming from venture capital-backed startups that offer accounts with no overdraft fees.
The Dallas company said it should be able to avoid restating past financial results. Hilltop also reported higher quarterly earnings boosted by a increase in mortgage activity.
