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4 Feb 2008

2007's Most Generous Givers Generate Huge Numbers

BusinessWeek's annual ranking of 'Most Generous Givers' lists some of 2007's deepest pockets, although many of the donations also bought the renaming of the recipients projects.

Sixteen of the 50 philanthropists gave more than $100 million, while nine donated $200 million or more. The largest donation coming from Jon Huntsman, who gave over $700 million to the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah.

David Koch, a newcomer, donated $100 million for a cancer research center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lorry Lokey gave a $74.5 million donation to the University of Oregon, bringing his total to $132 million so far.

George Soros, Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael and Susan Dell, were also high on the list of generous givers. T. Denny Sanford gave $400 million in a pledge to Sioux Valley Hospitals & Health System in South Dakota, renamed Sanford Health.

Robert Day gave $200 million to the Robert Day Scholars Program and Sandy and Joan Weill donated more than $300 million to Cornell University and its Weill Medical College, which focuses on stem cell research.

RCB Launches Indian Office For High Net Worth Individuals

RBC announced that it has entered the Indian market by opening its first office in the financial hub of Bandra Kurla, Mumbai, in order to provide wealth management services to high net worth individuals and provide capital market services including global debt funding to Indian banks, corporations and financial institutions.

"The strong growth of the Indian economy presents huge opportunities," said Gordon M. Nixon, RBC president and chief executive officer. "RBC is committed to expanding outside North America into areas where we can show competitive strength and India is a natural choice for our strategy in Asia. India is showing an increasing demand for areas in which RBC has competitive strengths, infrastructure and project finance, energy, metals and mining, structured products, currency and bond trading, and wealth management services."

Akhauri Sinha, country head, RBC India, will lead RBC's overall operations in India, while Dipendarra J. Singh will lead RBC's wealth management business with a focus on high net worth individuals, and Vikas Jambotkar will focus on providing RBC services to Indian financial institutions, as well as capital markets services to corporations.

With people from India comprising the second highest Asian immigrant population in Canada after China, RBC is now well positioned to help them invest back into India's buoyant economy. "Indo-Canadians have made and continue to make a huge contribution to the fabric of Canadian life. Their presence and cosmopolitan imprint on our cities, especially Toronto and Vancouver, have been profound. They form an important, indeed critical, link between India and Canada," continued Mr. Nixon.

RCB (The Royal Bank of Canada) serves more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients throughout offices in Canada, the U.S. and 36 other countries.