Financial structure change and banking income: A Canada-U.S. comparison

Data suggest that the Canadian financial structure, and particularly indirect finance (e.g., banking), have become more market-oriented. We associate this financial trend in part with the regulatory changes that have occurred in Canada since the 1980s. Financial intermediaries are increasingly involved with financial market activities-e.g. off-balance sheet (OBS) activities such as underwriting securities. In this article we analyze the noninterest income attributable to these financial market activities. We find that the variance of Canadian banks' aggregate operating-income growth is rising because of the increased contribution of noninterest income. Overall, our analysis corroborates the U.S. findings of Stiroh and Rumble (Stiroh, K., 2006. A portfolio view of banking with interest and noninterest assets. Jounal of Money, Credit, and Banking 38, 1351-1361; Stiroh, K., Rumble, A., 2006. The darkside of diversification: the case of U.S. financial holding companies. Journal of Banking and Finance 30, 2131-2161): by contributing to banking income volatility, market-oriented activities do not necessarily yield straightforward diversification benefits to Canadian banks.