Julie Levesque, the bank’s executive vice-president for information technology, said it has invested in preparing for open banking as the financial-services sector in Canada becomes more fragmented. (The Logic)

Talking point: “We’ve invested a lot in opening our architecture, making sure that we put in place the mechanism and the controls, as well as the technology, to be able to connect to networks and platforms that are external to National Bank,” Levesque said Wednesday during a panel at the Canada Fintech Forum. Her comments come as the government continues its search for someone to spearhead the issue on behalf of Finance Canada, which has prepared a short list of candidates for the role. Levesque said National Bank has invested about $85 million in fintech companies in the last few years, having also recently acquired Montreal-based Flinks, a data provider that allows third-party apps to access financial information.