Bank Dividend Increases On Hold

The Globe and Mail, John Heinzl, 5 March 2008Are bank dividend hikes drying up?For years, Canada's banks raked in ever-increasing profits, which they shovelled back to shareholders in the form of rising dividends. Royal Bank of Canada, the largest of the Big Five, raised its dividend at a sizzling 20-per-cent pace over the past five years. Bank of Montreal, the fifth-biggest bank by market value,