Banks' Commercial Paper Premiums Hit Record

Bloomberg, Doug Alexander, 7 September 2007Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and other Canadian banks are paying record interest-rate premiums to get investors to buy their asset-backed commercial paper amid a meltdown in U.S. subprime mortgages.The rates for the banks' 90-day commercial paper are as much as 5.6 percent, or 60 basis points higher than benchmark rates, said traders and