Assuming Laurentian University’s new 2024-2029 strategic plan is approved by its board of governors later this week at the governing body’s Feb. 16 meeting, the university will have fulfilled one of its major legal obligations following insolvency, Sudbury.com reported. Following 22 months of insolvency restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Laurentian exited creditor protection in late 2022. As part of the plan of arrangement approved by its creditors, Laurentian was obligated to create a new strategic plan with the help of consultants.

After the U.S. dropped a broad array of sanctions against Venezuela in October, it warned that it could reimpose all of them, except one. The White House admitted that its ban on buying Venezuelan bonds was a failure that had potentially benefited enemies of the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. Behind the scenes, a group of powerful Wall Street investors had been feeding Washington a stream of evidence that showed Venezuelan bonds were being traded by investors with ties to Russia. They said Moscow was hoping to gain influence in the U.S.’s backyard.

The Bank of Canada is likely to wrap up its quantitative tightening program as early as April, sooner than policymakers had previously indicated, according to RBC Capital Markets strategists, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank under Governor Tiff Macklem has been shrinking its balance sheet for about two years, withdrawing the extraordinary stimulus it provided during the worse phase of the Covid-19 shock.

Canadian home sales rose for the second month, with buyers rushing back into the market as speculation builds that prices will rise if the Bank of Canada lowers interest rates later this year, Bloomberg News reported. The number of homes that traded hands rose 3.7% in January from the month before, according to data Wednesday from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Prices continued to soften, with the seasonally adjusted benchmark falling 1.2% to C$717,800 ($529,500), the fifth straight monthly decline.

Bankrupt Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA won court permission to investigate whether its rival Latam Airlines Group SA sought to take unfair advantage of its recent chapter 11 filing by improperly soliciting major Boeing Co. aircraft suppliers, Bloomberg News reported. Judge Martin Glenn said Monday there is merit in investigating allegations Latam tried to either poach or interfere with Boeing 737 aircraft lessors doing business with Gol after the Brazilian budget airline filed bankruptcy last month.

An acrimonious legal battle over the fate of the insolvent Harbour Grace shipyard ended in a St. John's courtroom Monday morning after a judge approved the sale of the yard to fishing industry executive Blaine Sullivan, CBC.ca reported. The deal is expected to close later this month. Sullivan has committed to making investments into the yard and protecting the workforce as he tries to return the business to profitability.

Bonds of Petroleos Mexicanos declined on Monday after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the firm’s credit score further into junk territory, saying the state oil company would be near default without support from the Mexican government, Bloomberg News reported. Pemex’s notes due in 2030 fell as much as 2.9 cents on the dollar to 84.6 cents, according to Trace data compiled by Bloomberg. The extra yield investors demand to hold Pemex’s debt due in about six years over the Mexican sovereign widened more than 60 basis points to 4.93 percentage points.

Members of the Bank of Canada's (BoC) governing council were concerned about cutting borrowing costs too soon amid persistent inflation when they decided to keep the key overnight rate on hold on Jan. 24, minutes published on Wednesday showed, Reuters reported. The policy-setting governing council was "particularly concerned about the persistence of inflation and did not want to lower interest rates prematurely," the minutes said. The Bank of Canada (BoC) aims to keep inflation at 2% and has increased its key overnight rate 10 times in 17 months to a 22-year high of 5% to tame inflation.

A company owned by Blaine Sullivan, a well-known leader in Newfoundland and Labrador's fishing industry, has emerged as the preferred bidder for the insolvent shipyard in Harbour Grace, CBC.ca reported. The advisory firm that's monitoring the court-supervised restructuring and sales process, PricewaterhouseCoopers, revealed in documents published this week on its website that it supports a sale of the yard to Green Skiff Investments.

A group of local landlords with hundreds of rental buildings in Ontario owe more than $144 million as they grapple with a “severe liquidity crisis” that has prompted them to seek creditor protection, the Hamilton Spectator reported. Between them, Aruba Butt, Dylan Suitor and Ryan Molony have 11 related corporations drowning in debt and less than $100,000 in cash as they make their bid under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), according to court filings.