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7:30 a.m.
RBC, BMO commit to racial equity audits
Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal have committed to racial equity audits after facing pressure from shareholders.
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RBC said Friday it will conduct a third-party audit of employment practices next year and another on business practices in 2025.
“We remain focused on identifying and helping to address barriers that can impede the success of Black, Indigenous and other racialized groups,” said RBC spokesman Jeff Lanthier by email.
Racial equity audits look to identify and fix practices that may negatively affect Indigenous Peoples and communities of colour, and overall evaluates how well a company is addressing systemic racism.
The bank’s announcement comes after it met this week with shareholder advocacy group SHARE and the British Columbia General Employees’ Union, which had together put forward a resolution at RBC’s annual general meeting calling for an audit that received 42 per cent shareholder approval.
The two groups also filed a similar resolution at BMO that got 37 per cent support, which SHARE pointed out earlier this week as it raised concerns that six months on from the vote, neither bank had made a public commitment to carry out the audits.
BMO confirmed late Friday that it, too, would go through with one.
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The Canadian Press
Before the opening bell: Stocks droop to start the week
United States equity futures pointed to a slightly weaker start for Wall Street, following two weeks of robust gains, as investors waited for inflation data that could show if the U.S. Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates.
Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 slipped about 0.3 per cent, after the underlying indexes closed sharply higher on Friday.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index climbed 0.7 per cent, boosted by a rally in health-care stocks.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed up 67.06 points at 19,654.47 on Friday.
Bloomberg
What to watch today
Canada observes Remembrance Day. Stock markets are open, but bond markets are closed.
Companies reporting earnings include Sun Life Financial Inc., Li-Cycle Holdings Cop. and Power Corp. of Canada.
The National “Braiding Knowledge for Clean Energy” Conference and Tradeshow will take place today in Saskatoon with the theme, “Empowering First Nations: Pioneering Clean Energy Solutions and Housing Innovations.”
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Need a refresher on Friday’s top headlines? Get caught up here.
Additional reporting by The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Bloomberg
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