The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cyber crimes, Reuters reported. A senior Treasury Department official said that Tornado Cash, one of the largest mixers identified as problematic by the Treasury, has reportedly laundered more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.

Credit Suisse is not exposed to any large losses among lenders to embattled Mexican firm Credito Real, the Swiss bank said on Saturday, contradicting earlier media reports. Mexican newspaper El CEO citing documents said Credit Suisse is owed over $100 million by Credito Real, which has begun bankruptcy proceedings over $2.6 billion in debts. That is the largest debt Credito Real owes to a foreign bank, the newspaper reported. "Credit Suisse has no material exposure to the company in question," a spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday.

Credit Suisse is among the lenders owed the most money by embattled Mexican finance company Credito Real, which has begun bankruptcy proceedings for $2.6 billion in debts, Reuters reported. Private documents show that Credit Suisse is owed over $100 million by Credito Real, according to a report from Mexican business paper El CEO. That would be the largest debt Credito Real owes to a foreign bank, the report said. The news comes as media have reported that Credit Suisse was considering making sweeping cuts, and after Moodys rating agency downgraded the bank's unsecured debt ratings.

Mexico's central bank is expected to hike the benchmark interest rate to a new historic level of 8.5% next week, hoping to contain rising inflation while the economy shows better-than-expected growth, a Reuters poll revealed on Thursday. All 13 analysts polled expect Banxico, as the central bank is known, to hike its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point when the monetary authority announces its decision next week. This would be Banxico's second 75-basis-point hike this year, and mirrors the most recent policy decision taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Canadian employment unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in July as workers dropped out of the labor force, Bloomberg News reported. The country shed 30,600 jobs last month, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa, a surprise negative reading compared to the 15,000 gain anticipated by economists. Still, the unemployment rate held at a record low 4.9% as the labor force shrank by a similar amount. The employment drop last month adds to a loss of 43,200 jobs in June, marking a sudden stop to Canada’s yearlong labor market boom.

The pace of job creation is slowing in Canada, hammered by the sharp rise in interest rates, but that is yet to hold back companies from hiring as they face a tight labour market that has pushed the unemployment rate to a record low, Reuters reported. Statistics Canada is set to release its latest jobs data on Friday, and a Reuters poll forecast employment in July to rise by a net 20,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 5% from 4.9% after 43,200 jobs were lost in June.

Mexico's COVID-battered aviation sector has benefitted from a robust reactivation of travel, but analysts fear its takeoff could be soon shaken by recession in the United States, Reuters reported. Profits of air terminal operators in Mexico's most important tourist destinations grew strongly last quarter, thanks to solid traffic numbers for both domestic and international passengers. "Aviation has had a surprising recovery," said Pablo Casas, director of the National Institute of Aeronautical Legal Research (INIJA).

Mexico’s programs and subsidies to tame inflation will cost the country almost 575 billion pesos ($28 billion) this year as the government tries to cap inflation that has spiked to the highest in over 21 years, Bloomberg News reported. Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O said Tuesday that the wide-ranging government programs used to contain price gains include gasoline and residential electricity subsidies for a total of 503 billion pesos on top of fertilizer handouts, measures to guarantee food supply and freezing highway tolls.

El Salvador plans to repurchase about $1.6 billion in sovereign bonds at market prices, part of a plan to cut down on debt and stave off fears of a default, President Nayib Bukele said on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bukele said on Twitter that his government sent two bills to congress to secure funds for “a transparent, public and voluntary” repurchase offer for bonds maturing in 2023 and 2025 at market prices in about six weeks. “El Salvador has enough liquidity” to meet debt payments and to buy all of its own debt up to 2025 in advance, Bukele wrote.

Grupo Financiero Inbursa is still in the process of buying Citigroup's Mexican retail bank unit and is inviting other business partners to join the bid, Inbursa's Director of Investor Relations Frank Aguado said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The comment, made during a conference call discussing its second-quarter results, comes days after Spain's Banco Santander said it had dropped out of the process to buy Citibanamex, having submitted a non-binding offer earlier this year.