BMO does rate RY a market perform, however, while it rates other Canadian banks TD and CIBC as outperformers.

I picked RY as a Cara 100 choice for little reason other than they are the one I respect most, but rating differences among the top 5 Canadian banks is not a matter of 10, 9, 8 etc on a scale of 10. It's more like 915, 913, 911. These banks are all very well managed, quite diversified, and ought to attract more interest from international traders.

One comment by the BMO analyst re RY's global private banking business needs clarification. BMO says there are risks in doing business in tax haven countries. I think there is greater risk in BMO's not being as internationally diversified as Canada's Royal, CIBC and Scotia Bank.

BMO used to be in Bahamas with a domestic (not private bank) operation. They sold it to the government, which turned it into Bank of Bahamas, which is soundly managed and highly profitable. So BMO flat-out made a mistake in my view.

For a banker to even make a comment about offshore private wealth management like BMO made is mildly repulsive to me. BMO operates in the U.S. (Harris Bank) where the government has huge monetary and fiscal issues to deal with. Why not take shots at that rather than knocking jurisdictions like Bahamas, for example, that prudently manage their current account?

Just because a country determines that it is in their best interest to operate a fiscal regime that does not include an income tax act, but does include alternative fiscal methods of raising capital, such as VAT or excise duties, etc, does not make it a regulatory risk in global markets.

In fact, the offshore laws of each jurisdiction are explicit and have been accepted by international banking organizations. If there is a risk, it's an internal bank risk, like a Nick Leeson who brought down Barings Bank, and we all know these risks occur in every country, and for some banks are more likely to occur than for others.

In any event the point was made. When I set up in The Bahamas, it will be to establish an active trading operation, as opposed to wealth management, which is mostly asset gathering and passive bookkeeping (trusts and all). And I intend to domicile traders in The Bahamas, meeting ‘mind and management' requirements that many banks and hedge funds today dismiss too lightly.

So what I am saying is there are laws, and we must respect them " not be smug like I interpret the statement made by the BMO analyst. People who point fingers ought to look in reverse, some times.

Now was it the left side or the right side of the bed I got up on today? :-)

I do thank BMO for the report. And I do think BMO is a very well run bank. And I'm glad the Toronto Star business section headline article today reads: "(BMO's Don) Coxe sees (Cdn Dollar) topping greenback" because I very much like the work done by Don Coxe.