Canaccord Financial Inc. to Acquire Genuity Capital Markets

Transformative Transaction Creates Gold Standard Independent Investment Bank

TORONTO, March 4, 2010 - Canaccord Financial Inc. ("Canaccord", TSX : CF,
AIM : CF.) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement
to acquire Genuity Capital Markets ("Genuity"), creating the gold standard
full-service independent investment bank. This transaction combines equity
underwriting strength with advisory and restructuring leadership, leverages
proven global distribution and consolidates leading independent, idea-driven
research into one strong global platform that can serve the entire client
lifecycle. The combined capital markets operations in Canada, the United
States and the UK will be renamed Canaccord Genuity on closing.

"Canaccord's acquisition of Genuity more than satisfies our stated
acquisition criteria: the Genuity partners are an excellent strategic and
cultural fit with our business, and this transaction is immediately accretive
to shareholders, increasing Canaccord's trailing 12-month EPS on a pro-forma
basis by more than 15%," noted Paul Reynolds, President and CEO of Canaccord.
"Canaccord and Genuity have each built strong independent businesses, and we
have enormous respect for each others' accomplishments as well as a shared
vision of how best to serve our clients. Our combination will propel us into
the next phase of our growth, and position us as an aggressive, full-service
competitor."

Genuity is the leading independent advisory and restructuring firm in
Canada. Founded in 2005, the firm has been involved in over 106 advisory
assignments, with an average transaction size of $392 million since 2007. In
2009, Genuity was lead manager on 13 public underwriting transactions with an
average deal size of $109 million, demonstrating its deep expertise and
relationships in the large cap market. For its fiscal year ended January 31,
2010, Genuity had $100.6 million in revenue and $31.9 million in pre-tax net
income (pro-forma, unaudited), continuing a trend of strong results in a
variety of market environments (see Figure 1). As of January 31, 2010,
Genuity had total estimated assets of $100.2 million (unaudited). Genuity
has 135 employees and offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary,
Boston and New York.

"We are excited to join Canaccord's strong global platform," said David
Kassie, Chairman and CEO of Genuity. "Like Canaccord, Genuity is a producer
owned and driven business. Our firms share a deep commitment to creating
long-term value for our clients and shareholders, and I look forward to our
combination and continued success."

The definitive agreement provides that Canaccord will acquire 100% of
Genuity for consideration consisting of 26.5 million Canaccord common shares
and cash of $30 million. In addition, the vendors will receive up to $28
million as a working capital adjustment subsequent to closing. Based on the
closing price of Canaccord's common shares on Thursday, March 4, 2010 of
$8.60, this values Genuity at approximately $285.9 million. It is expected
that this transaction will be immediately and significantly accretive to
Canaccord's earnings.

All of the Canaccord common shares issued as part of the purchase price
will be placed in escrow at closing and released ratably over five years.
Genuity's ten largest partners have entered into employment agreements that
will become effective on closing, and on closing will also enter into
non-competition, non-solicitation and standstill agreements. All of the other
Genuity partners are expected to become Canaccord Genuity employees on
closing.

Upon closing, Canaccord will appoint two nominees of the existing Genuity
partnership (David Kassie and Philip Evershed) to its board of directors.
David Kassie will serve as Canaccord's Group Chairman while Peter Brown will
serve as Chairman and Founder.

"As the founder of the firm, I'm very proud of this transaction and how
Canaccord is continuing to evolve," said Peter Brown, Chairman of Canaccord
Financial Inc. "Canaccord was founded in 1950 and since then we've been
building a firm that worked to put its clients first and demonstrate Canadian
leadership on a global stage. This opportunity to join forces with Genuity
makes that goal even more of a reality."

Paul Reynolds, Mark Maybank and Brad Kotush will continue as President
and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial
Officer, respectively.

Jens Mayer (from Canaccord) and Ted Hirst (from Genuity) will serve as
Global Co-Heads of Investment Banking. Daniel Daviau (from Genuity) will be
Head of Canadian Investment Banking. Earl Rotman (from Genuity) will be
appointed Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, and Barry Goldberg (from
Genuity) will be Global Head of Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring.
Matthew Gaasenbeek (from Canaccord) will be Global Head of Sales and
Trading. Mark Maybank will continue to serve as Global Director of Research.

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions
including the receipt of regulatory and Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX")
approvals. Pursuant to TSX rules, the transaction must also be approved by
Canaccord's shareholders due to the number of Canaccord common shares
issuable as part of the purchase price.

    Figure 1: Genuity Financial Performance (combined(1) and unaudited)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    12 months ended    Pro-Forma(2)  Pro-Forma(2)  Pro-Forma(2)  Pro-Forma(2)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (C$000s)           Jan 31 2007   Jan 31 2008   Jan 31 2009   Jan 31 2010
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Gross Revenue           69,997       228,563       103,121       104,330
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Revenue(3)        65,682       216,449        63,360       100,630
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Non-Comp
     Expenses               11,710        17,224        16,961        15,101
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Compensation
     Expenses               34,998       114,282        45,024        52,131
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Earnings before
     Amortization           18,974        84,943         1,375        33,398
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Amortization             1,350         1,224         1,375         1,520
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Earnings before
     Taxes                  17,624        83,719             0        31,878
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recommendation of the Board of Directors

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., financial advisor to Canaccord's special
committee of independent directors, has provided its opinion that the
acquisition consideration is fair, from a financial point of view, to
Canaccord. The board of directors, based upon their investigations, including
their consideration of that fairness opinion and the recommendation of the
special committee, concluded that the transaction is in the best interests of
Canaccord shareholders, and will be recommending that shareholders vote in
favour of a resolution at the special meeting of shareholders.

Special Meeting and Information Circular

Canaccord will be convening a special meeting of its shareholders to
consider the transaction. Canaccord currently anticipates that the special
meeting will be held in late April 2010 and that an information circular
containing additional details regarding the business of the special meeting
will be mailed to shareholders in early April.

Service contracts of proposed directors

In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the AIM Rules, the
details of any service contracts of the proposed directors David Kassie and
Philip Evershed are that they have entered into employment agreements that
will become effective on closing. These agreements provide for a base salary,
participation in group benefit plans and policies provided to other
executives, an annual bonus incentive award as determined by the firm's
executive committee based on performance and participation in the firm's Long
Term Incentive Plan. These agreements also provide for certain material
non-competition and non-solicitation covenants.

Investor Presentation and Conference Call

A presentation for the investment community with highlights of the
transaction will be available for the distribution of this release on
Canaccord's website in the investor relations section at:
www.canaccordfinancial.com.

The highlights will be presented by senior executives to analysts and
institutional investors on a webcast conference call which will include a
question and answer session. The call is scheduled for Thursday, March 4,
2010 at 5:00 a.m. (Pacific Time), 8:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) and 1:00 p.m.
(UK Time). The conference call and webcast may be accessed live and archived
on a listen-only basis via the Internet at:
www.canaccordfinancial.com.

    Analysts and institutional investors can call in via telephone at:

    -  647-427-7450 (within Toronto)
    -  1-888-231-8191 (toll free outside Toronto)
    -  0-800-051-7107 (toll free from the United Kingdom)

Please request to participate in Canaccord's Genuity acquisition call and
enter passcode 60405700.

A replay of the conference call can be accessed after 7:00 a.m. (Pacific
Time), 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) and 3:00 p.m. (UK Time) on Thursday,
March 4, 2010 until Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 416-849-0833 or
1-800-642-1687 by entering passcode 60405700.

ABOUT CANACCORD ADAMS:

Canaccord Adams is a leading independent financial services firm
committed to fostering the entrepreneurial economy by bringing corporate and
institutional clients a unique perspective on global investment
opportunities. With operations in research, sales and trading, and
investment banking, our 250 professionals seek out emerging opportunities
in our key sectors - Mining and Metals, Energy, Technology, Life Sciences,
Consumer, Real Estate, Sustainability and Infrastructure. Located in ten
offices internationally, our experienced team generates focused,
actionable ideas that identify opportunity and facilitate growth.
Canaccord Adams, the international capital markets division
of the Canaccord group, has operations in Toronto, London, Edinburgh,
Boston, Vancouver, New York, Calgary, San Francisco, Houston and Barbados.

In Canada, Canaccord Adams is a division of Canaccord Financial Ltd.
Canaccord Adams Limited operates in the United Kingdom and Canaccord Adams
Inc. operates in the United States. These companies are all part of the
corporate group headed by Canaccord Financial Inc.

More information is available at www.canaccordadams.com.

ABOUT CANACCORD FINANCIAL INC.:

Through its principal subsidiaries, Canaccord Financial Inc. is a leading
independent, full-service financial services firm, with operations in two
principal segments of the securities industry: wealth management and global
capital markets. Since its establishment in 1950, Canaccord has been driven
by an unwavering commitment to building lasting client relationships. We
achieve this by generating value for our individual, institutional and
corporate clients through comprehensive investment solutions, brokerage
services and investment banking services. Canaccord has 37 offices
worldwide, including 29 Wealth Management offices located across Canada.
Canaccord Adams, the international capital markets division, operates in
the U.S., U.K., Canada and Barbados.

Canaccord Financial Inc. is publicly traded under the symbol CF on the
TSX and the symbol CF. on AIM, a market operated by the
London Stock Exchange.

ABOUT GENUITY CAPITAL MARKETS:

Genuity Capital Markets is Canada's leading partner-owned investment
bank. Genuity was formed in 2005 by a group of principals who are among the
most experienced in the industry and have helped shape the Canadian capital
markets over the last 25 years. They have led many of the largest and most
complex merger & acquisition, restructuring and financing transactions in
Canada. Genuity provides clients with corporate finance, mergers &
acquisitions, restructuring, sales & trading and research services with
senior level attention, creative ideas and effective solutions leveraged by
longstanding relationships and astute market insight. Genuity has offices in
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Montreal, New York and Boston.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This document may contain certain forward-looking statements. These
statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect
management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events including
business and economic conditions and Canaccord's growth, results of
operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities. Such
forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based
on information currently available to management. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may",
"will", "should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate",
"predict", "potential", "continue", "target", "intend" or the negative of
these terms or other comparable terminology. By their very nature,
forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both
general and specific, and a number of factors could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-
looking statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should
specifically consider various factors that may cause actual results to
differ materially from any forward-looking statement. These factors
include, but are not limited to, market and general economic conditions,
the nature of the financial services industry and the risks and uncertainties
detailed from time to time in Canaccord's interim
and annual consolidated financial statements and its
Annual Report and Annual Information Form filed on sedar.com. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document, and
Canaccord assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new
events or circumstances.

Non-GAAP Measures

Certain non-GAAP measures are utilized by Canaccord as measures of
financial performance. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning
prescribed by GAAP and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar
measures presented by other companies. Non-GAAP measures included are return
on average common equity (ROE), assets under administration (AUA), assets
under management (AUM), expenses as a % of revenue and book value per diluted
share. Canaccord's capital is represented by shareholders' equity and,
therefore, management uses ROE as a performance measure. AUA and AUM are
non-GAAP measures of client assets that are common to the wealth management
aspects of the private client services industry. AUA is the market value of
client assets administered by Canaccord from which Canaccord earns
commissions or fees. This measure includes funds held in
client accounts as well as the aggregate market value of
long and short security positions. Canaccord's method of
calculating AUA may differ from the methods used by other companies
and therefore may not be comparable to other companies. Management uses this
measure to assess operational performance of the Wealth Management business
segment. AUM includes all assets managed on a discretionary basis under our
programs generally described as or known as the Complete Canaccord Investment
Counselling Program and Complete Canaccord Managed Accounts (1). Services
provided include the selection of investments and the provision of investment
advice. AUM are also administered by Canaccord and are included in AUA.
Financial statement items which exclude significant items are non-GAAP
measures. Significant items include the asset backed commercial paper (ABCP)
fair value adjustment, additional accrual for client relief programs, fair
value adjustment of ABCP purchased by the Company under a client relief
program, impairment of goodwill and intangibles and restructuring costs.

     (1) This pro forma financial information is prepared on a combined basis
         to include the operating results of the principal operating entities
         of the Genuity group:  Genuity Capital Markets, Genuity Capital
         Markets USA Corp. and Genuity Limited Partnership.

     (2) Total compensation expenses are calculated on a pro-forma basis as
         to 50% of gross revenue, subject to certain conditions and other
         adjustments.

     (3) Total revenue is gross revenue net of facilitation losses and
         includes certain other income items.

For further information: North America Media: Scott Davidson, Managing
Director, Global Head of Marketing & Communications, Phone: +1-(416)869-3875
email: scott.davidson@Canaccord.com; Genuity inquiries: David Kassie,
Chairman and CEO, Genuity Capital Markets, Phone: +1-(416)687-5323, email:
david.kassie@genuitycm.com; For Canaccord Financial investor relations
inquiries contact: Joy Fenney, Vice President, Investor Relations &
Communications, Phone: +1-(416)869-3515, email: joy.fenney@Canaccord.com;
Canaccord Financial Inc. Nominated Adviser and Broker: Marc Milmo or Jonny
Franklin-Adams, Fox-Pitt, Kelton Limited, Phone: +44(0)207-065-2000, email:
marc.milmo@fpk.com; London Media: Bobby Morse or Ben Romney, Buchanan
Communications (London), Phone: +44(0)207-466-5000, email:
bobbym@buchanan.uk.com

For further information: North America Media: Scott Davidson, Managing
Director, Global Head of Marketing & Communications, Phone: +1-(416)869-3875
email: scott.davidson at Canaccord.com; Genuity inquiries: David Kassie,
Chairman and CEO, Genuity Capital Markets, Phone: +1-(416)687-5323, email:
david.kassie at genuitycm.com; For Canaccord Financial investor relations
inquiries contact: Joy Fenney, Vice President, Investor Relations &
Communications, Phone: +1-(416)869-3515, email: joy.fenney at Canaccord.com;
Canaccord Financial Inc. Nominated Adviser and Broker: Marc Milmo or Jonny
Franklin-Adams, Fox-Pitt, Kelton Limited, Phone: +44(0)207-065-2000, email:
marc.milmo at fpk.com; London Media: Bobby Morse or Ben Romney, Buchanan
Communications (London), Phone: +44(0)207-466-5000, email:
bobbym at buchanan.uk.com