Canada

Seven years after the global financial crisis started, Canada’s banks remain selective in what they disclose – a problem illustrated by Ottawa’s recent crackdown on credit-card transaction fees, The Globe and Mail reported. Despite being one of the banking sector’s most widely discussed issues, with lenders lobbying Ottawa furiously out of fear that any ruling would be too harsh, the average investor had almost no way of calculating how many millions or billions of dollars were at stake.

Engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. on Thursday said it would cut 4,000 jobs and record significant charges over the next 18 months as part of a restructuring aimed partly at combating a global slowdown in mining, The Wall Street Journal reported. Montreal-based SNC said it plans to scale back some underperforming activities and its corporate structure in a bid to improve efficiency and bolster its competitive position.

Prospective LNG exporter AltaGas Ltd. of Calgary said Monday it plans to double its asset base from $7.5 billion to $15 billion by 2019. At an investor day webcast from Toronto, executives said AltaGas plans to expand its utility and power operations but most of the growth will be in its ability to handle and export western Canadian natural gas from prolific shale plays in northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta.

U.S. Steel is indefinitely idling its coke-making operations in Hamilton as it restructures the company and looks for a potential buyer — part of what a union head calls a piece-by-piece dismantling of the plant, CBC.ca reported. The company is “hot idling” the coke battery, which means it won’t be used after Nov. 1 but will remain prepped for future use. About 100 workers are affected, said Rolf Gerstenberger, president of the United Steelworkers Local 1005. Some will be reassigned to other duties, while others may be laid off.

Womenswear retailer Boutique Jacob Inc. is abandoning its restructuring efforts and closing all its 92 stores in Canada, the Chronicle Herald reported on a Canadian Press story. The Montreal-based clothing chain says efforts over the last few months to “try to breathe new life into the company” have failed. The insolvent retailer has been liquidating inventory at its Canadian stores since filing for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in May. It says it will proceed with selling all of the remaining merchandise at its stores and online at Jacob.ca.

The United Steelworkers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with U.S. Steel Canada Inc. that covers workers in Hamilton, marking the first time the steel company has not locked out workers at one of its two major Canadian mills, The Globe and Mail reported. Since the 2007 purchase by United States Steel Corp. of what was then Stelco Inc., the company locked out workers once after failing to reach an agreement covering its Hamilton workers, and twice at its Lake Erie operations in Nanticoke, Ont.

Stakeholders have approved a controversial but essential step in U.S. Steel Canada Inc.’s bankruptcy protection process, allowing the company to move ahead with a restructuring that could result in the sale of its Canadian operations, the Financial Post reported. After several days of intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations — “virtually 24 hours a day,” according to U.S. Steel Canada lawyer Paul Steep — an agreement was reached Wednesday on a $185-million loan that will allow the company to continue operations during the restructuring process. The loan will come from U.S.

The Ontario Superior Court has adjourned a hearing on U.S. Steel Canada Inc. under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, The Globe and Mail reported. The hearing has been postponed until Tuesday so lawyers can try to negotiate a deal on debtor-in-possession financing. The key issue is the plan by the steel maker’s parent, United States Steel Corp., to provide $185-million in debtor-in-possession financing for the Canadian unit. That plan is opposed by the Ontario government and the United Steelworkers union, which argue that it gives U.S.

U.S. Steel Canada says a proposal from its parent company and largest secured creditor to lend $185 million will let the insolvent steelmaker maintain its operations for another year and begin a process to sell its two Ontario operations, the Toronto Star reported on a Canadian Press story. According to court documents, company president and general manager Michael McQuade said the proposed debtor-in-possession (DIP) funding was “appropriate” with better terms for it than other creditor proceedings.

The Canadian unit of U.S. Steel Corp. filed for court protection from creditors to restructure its operations. The steelmaker applied to the Ontario Superior Court today for protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, U.S. Steel Canada said today in a statement obtained by Bloomberg News. U.S. Steel, the biggest U.S. steelmaker by volume, will provide C$185 million ($169 million) in debtor-in-possession financing to the Canadian unit during the restructuring. “Despite substantial efforts over the past several years to make U.S.