Canadian consumer insolvencies surged by nearly 23 per cent month-over-month in March, according to data released by the Office of Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) yesterday, BNN Bloomberg reported. That increase marked the largest one-month jump in new filing activity in more than a decade as some consumers simply hit a wall when it came to staving off a bankruptcy. Several factors led to the month-over-month increase, including consumers running out of income supports, the return-to-work trend, resumption of wage garnishments, and the courts gradually returning to more normal activities.

Malaysia today said the U.S. Department of Justice has returned 1.9 billion ringgit ($460.22 million) of funds recovered from assets related to sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Reuters reported. Malaysian and U.S. investigators say that at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, in a wide-ranging scandal that has implicated high-level officials, banks and financial institutions around the world. The United States has been returning funds it has recovered from seized assets that were allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB money.

Bridging Finance Inc. received a $126-million emergency cash infusion last year that gave new institutional backers better rights and more seniority than existing retail investors – but decided not to ask existing investors if they approved, according to documents reviewed by The Globe and Mail. Detailed terms of the emergency money also were not disclosed upfront to existing investors, despite the potential impact on their standing with other creditors should Bridging get into financial trouble. Some details were later outlined in Bridging’s audited year-end financial statements.

The Biden administration announced yesterday that it was asking Mexico to review whether labor violations had occurred at a General Motors facility in the country, a significant step using a new labor enforcement tool in the revised North American trade deal, the New York Times reported. The administration is seeking the review under the novel “rapid response” mechanism in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement and took effect last summer.

A day before Michigan's deadline to close down a key crude oil pipeline, Canada on Tuesday issued its strongest remarks so far about the move, warning that it could undermine relations with the United States, its closest ally and trading partner, Reuters reported. Canadian company Enbridge Inc. is preparing for a legal battle with Michigan and courting protests from environmental groups, betting it can ignore the state's Wednesday deadline to shut down Line 5, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac. The Canadian government, intervening in the case to back Enbridge, said in a U.S.

Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) has begun a strategic review of Spanish renewable energy firm Eolia, which could lead to a possible sale, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. AIMCo has hired advisers to decide on strategic options for the business that operates around 860 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy generation capacity in Spain.

Archegos Capital is preparing for insolvency, triggered by banks’ attempts to recoup some of the $10bn they lost on its soured bets in March, the Financial Times reported. The family office run by Bill Hwang has hired restructuring advisers to assess potential legal claims from banks and to plan for a possible winding down of its operations.

Liberty Steel Group said on Wednesday that it had appointed a committee to restructure and refinance the group after Greensill Capital, its biggest lender, filed for insolvency in March, Reuters reported. The move comes after Sanjeev Gupta’s family conglomerate GFG Alliance announced that its Australian unit had agreed terms to refinance its exposure to Greensill. Liberty Steel, which is also under the GFG umbrella, said in a statement that four new board directors would form a Restructuring and Transformation Committee (RTC) to focus on fixing or selling underperforming units.

The new management of Mexican airline Interjet has hired a restructuring firm to help overcome its $1.25 billion of inherited debt as the company looks to restart operations, Bloomberg News reported. The airline, now controlled by businessman Alejandro del Valle, has brought on Mexico City-based Argoss Partners to help resolve issues with creditors via a prepackaged bankruptcy and obtain debtor-in-possession financing. Interjet plans to submit a restructuring plan to Mexico’s bankruptcy regulator for review in the coming weeks.

An Ontario court has placed Canadian lender Bridging Finance Inc. in receivership and the provincial securities regulator ordered that all trading cease in securities in its funds for 15 days, Reuters reported. The actions followed an investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) that found the Toronto-based company and Chief Executive David Sharpe mismanaged and misappropriated investment funds. The OSC also suspended Sharpe’s registration as the company’s Ultimate Designated Person, responsible for its conduct and supervision, according to a statement issued late on Friday.