BNN.ca staff and Reuters - September 09, 2010
Canada's banking system has been judged by the World Economic Forum to be the safest in the world for the third straight year.

Finance minister Jim Flaherty commented on the results, saying "It's no wonder that international leaders around the world praise Canada's financial system as a model for others to emulate.  "Today's ranking by the World Economic Forum is further evidence that Canada's model does work and is an example to the world."  Flaherty attributed Canada's success to its "coordinated regulatory approach."

In terms of competition, however, Canada slipped a notch to number 10 on the list. Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth, according to the WEF. The U.S. was overtaken in the group's Global Competitiveness Report by Sweden in second spot and Singapore in third.  Last year the Asian city state ranked third and Sweden fourth.

The WEF attributed America's slipping competitiveness to a build-up in U.S. macroeconomic imbalances, a weakening of the country's public and private institutions and concerns about the state of its financial markets. China moved up two places in the rankings to 27th.

The Geneva-based group released the report ahead of a meeting next week in the port city of Tianjin near Beijing.