Canada

Personal insolvencies are at a four-year high in Canada as consumers struggle with lingering inflation, high interest rates and debt they can no longer handle, the Toronto Star reported. The Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) report for the second quarter shows a rise of 12.4 per cent in insolvencies compared to the year prior. And the numbers for business are even worse with insolvencies spiking 41.4 per cent year-over-year.

Bank of Montreal has sold about £300 million ($383 million) of Thames Water’s senior debt at an almost 30% discount, Bloomberg News reported. The Canadian lender sold a mix of the utility firm’s senior debt, including bilateral loans and privately placed debt, split across Class A instruments with different maturities. The debt was sold for a little over 70% of its face value, following an auction process with a reserve price of 65%, which closed on Friday, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.

B.C.’s financial markets regulator on Wednesday called on Ottawa to make changes to federal laws so that fraudsters hit with steep fines still have to pay up even after declaring bankruptcy, the Vancouver Sun reported. Brenda Leong, chairwoman and CEO of the B.C. Securities Commission, said she would work with other provincial regulators to make the plea to Ottawa after Canada’s high court ruled administrative penalties, or fines, don’t survive bankruptcy while orders to pay back ill-gotten gains do.

Canadian federal government's target for a bump in its controversial capital gains tax over the next five years will fall short by a tenth, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the parliamentary budget officer, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland revealed a new tax on wealthy individuals in her budget in April which would bring in C$19.4 billion ($13.99 billion) over four years.

Postmedia Network Inc. has announced plans to buy “certain businesses” belonging to SaltWire Network Inc. and The Halifax Herald Ltd., the two insolvent media companies behind Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain, the Canadian Press reported. The Toronto-based company, which owns the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Ottawa Citizen and dozens of other publications, issued a statement Friday saying the deal is subject to conditions, including approval from the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and “satisfactory outcomes” with unionized workers.

The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for a second consecutive meeting and signaled further easing ahead as inflation worries wane, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem lowered the benchmark overnight rate to 4.5% on Wednesday, as widely expected by markets and economists in a Bloomberg survey. Officials see below-potential growth continuing to cool inflation, and said they’re spending more time discussing economic headwinds.

Canada’s retailers faced a further pullback in sales in recent months, yet another sign of the stresses consumers are under that argues for additional rate relief from the central bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. Retail sales dropped by the most in more than a year in May and an early tally of receipts points to further belt-tightening by Canadians in June, data released Friday by Statistics Canada showed.

Trans Mountain Corp. plans to borrow in the bond market to refinance some of its outstanding debt ahead of the Canadian government’s eventual sale of the oil pipeline operator, Bloomberg News reported. The debt deal may still be months away from coming to the market, with size and structure yet to be set, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. The company hasn’t issued debt previously and does not currently have a credit rating. The company reported that it had C$25.3 billion ($18.4 billion) debt as of March 31.

Ontario's self-described Crypto King will likely remain bankrupt until criminal fraud and money laundering charges are resolved against the 25-year-old, CBC.ca reported. Justice William Black dismissed Aiden Pleterski's application for a discharge from his nearly two-year-long bankruptcy in a ruling released on Thursday. "Mr. Pleterski's conduct warrants an emphasis on public protection and accountability," wrote the Ontario Superior Court judge.

The Bank of Canada needs to wrap up its quantitative tightening program or fix distortions in short-term funding markets that are keeping effective interest rates higher, according to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce strategists, Bloomberg News reported. Canada’s central bank has been shrinking its balance sheet for more than two years, withdrawing the extraordinary stimulus it provided during the Covid-19 crisis.