Financial Update

· TSX -260.51pts (Reuters) led by a drop in financial stocks as significant job cuts at major US financial firms and weakening earnings outlooks weighed on investors.
· DOW -223.73pts with word of Citigroup Inc. slashing 52,000 more jobs on top of the previous 23,000 and Japan slipping into recession heightening worries about the severity of the global slowdown.
· Dollar +15c to $81.75US.
· Oil $2.09 to $54.95US per barrel. setting a new near 22-month low. Oil has fallen more than 60% from its July record above $147 a barrel as the credit crisis has hit the real economy and dampened fuel demand in the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer
· Gold -$.50 to $741.90US per ounce

The FP article below stresses the importance of the “KNOW YOUR CLIENT” rule. With a potential slow down in regular mortgage business, it may be easier to be deceived in the desire to maintain volume levels.

Identity theft strikes almost 1.7 million Canadians

Financial Post Canwest News Service HAMILTON -- Identify fraud has struck almost 1.7 million Canadians in the past year, according to a new national survey, exacting a heavy cost in both time and money to resolve the issue.

Online transactions were the source for 15 per cent of identity theft cases; debit card skimming made up another 13% of cases, according to the survey, done by the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton.

"The amount of time and money lost due to identity fraud has a severe impact both on individuals and on Canada's economy. Individuals, governments and businesses all have parts to play in preventing identity theft and fraud," Susan Sproule, researcher at the McMaster eBusiness Research Centre based at DeGroote, said.

Victims spent more than 20 million hours and more than $150-million of their own money to resolve the fraud, according to the research.

The survey found that in the past year 6.5% of Canadian consumers -- about 1.7 million people -- experienced some kind of identity fraud, such as unauthorized credit card purchases or account access, having new accounts or loans taken out in their name, and being impersonated.

Despite the frequency of ID theft, the survey showed that Canadians are not going far enough to minimize the chance of fraud. Only 13% of identity fraud cases were reported to the police and nearly half of respondents -- 49% -- had never requested a copy of their credit report.

About one-fifth of survey participants reported that they had stopped or reduced the amount of shopping they do online because of concerns about identity fraud, and nine per cent reported that they have stopped or reduced online banking activities.

"If consumers are afraid to do business online, Canadian companies will not be able to reap the full benefits of e-business," Ms. Sproule said.