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Restaurants Canada is proposing a solution to help small businesses, particularly restaurants, struggling with pandemic-related debt, NetNewsLedger reported. With the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan reimbursement deadline approaching, Restaurants Canada suggests extending the payback period for 36 months and implementing a scaled-down model for the forgivable portion to save thousands of restaurants and small businesses from declaring bankruptcy. “The program was a key tool to assist thousands of businesses who had begun waiving their white flag as a result of the pandemic.
FTX’s investment arm, Alameda Research, has struck a $45 million cash deal to sell its interest in Sequoia Capital to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, according to court documents filed Wednesday, CoinDesk reported. The deal, subject to approval by Delaware bankruptcy court Judge John Dorsey, is part of the bankrupt company's attempts to sell its investments in early stage crypto and tech ventures in a bid to repay creditors.
Brazil's central bank stated on Thursday that the potential impact of the accounting scandal involving retailer Americanas SA on banks would be 'insignificant' even in an extreme scenario, Reuters reported. The statement was made in the minutes of last week's Financial Stability Committee meeting, which had decided to maintain a neutral macroprudential policy due to no significant increase in financial risks.
A New York judge rejected a bid by the former Lehman Brothers' bankrupt European unit to claw back $485 million from bond insurer Assured Guaranty Ltd over transactions that were canceled amid the global financial crisis, Reuters reported. In a decision on Wednesday, Justice Melissa Crane of a New York state court in Manhattan said Assured's AG Financial Products unit instead deserved to recover about $20 million from Lehman Brothers International (Europe). The case stemmed from Assured's July 2009 termination of 28 credit default swaps on which Lehman had bought credit protection.
Credit Suisse's head of regulatory compliance, Julian Gooding, is leaving Switzerland's second-biggest bank as part of a sweeping overhaul involving thousands of job cuts, Reuters reported. Gooding was one of the most senior managers in compliance, overseeing anti-fraud measures as well as matters relating to market conduct and investors protection. He had been in the role since January 2022 and previously held senior positions as general counsel in various parts of the bank.
The Bank of Canada needs more evidence to gauge if interest rates are high enough to tame inflation, in part because the economies of major trading partners are doing better than forecast, senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers said on Thursday, Reuters reported. She spoke a day after the central bank left its key overnight interest rate on hold at 4.50%, becoming the first major central bank to suspend its tightening campaign as inflation eases. The BoC has said it will hold rates where they are as long as inflation comes down as it forecast in January, hitting 3% at about mid-year.
Insufficient checks and safeguards on how EU member countries spend a massive aid program designed to help them bounce back from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are creating possibilities for fraud and mismanagement, the bloc's financial watchdog warned on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
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The Bank of Canada kept interest rates unchanged for the first time in nine meetings, saying it’s prepared to hike again if the economy veers off its forecast course, Bloomberg News reported. Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem made good on a January pledge to hold the benchmark overnight rate at 4.5% on Wednesday, the first pause among major central banks that was expected by both markets and economists. Officials kept the door open to further rate increases, however, reiterating that they’re willing to raise borrowing costs again if necessary.
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Mexico's inflation likely slowed in February but still remained well above the official target, fueling expectations the central bank will raise its key rate again in its next monetary policy announcement at the end of March, Reuters reported. The median forecast of 17 analysts shows annual inflation at 7.69% in February, down from the 7.91% posted in January, but nevertheless far above the Bank of Mexico's target of 3% plus or minus one percentage point.
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The Swiss National Bank cannot rule out that it will have to raise interest rates again to bring inflation under control, Chairman Thomas Jordan said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "We cannot rule out that we will have to further tighten monetary policy," said Jordan in his final public appearance before the SNB makes its next decision on interest rates on March 23. The central bank was also ready to intervene in currency markets, buying and selling foreign currencies, to achieve its goal of price stability, Jordan told an event in Zurich.
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