North America

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday backed the central bank's recent moves to raise interest rates, but took a swipe at a board member for criticizing his plan to allocate International Monetary Fund resources to pay off debt, Reuters reported. "I respect that decision they're taking because inflation must be kept under control," he told a regular news conference. "This should be something that matters to all of us." Inflation in July stood at 5.81%, well above the bank's target of 3%, and the bank last week raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%.

Greensill Capital’s bankrupt U.S. unit won court approval to sell its Finacity Corp. business to White Oak Global Advisors for $7 million after reaching a deal with unsecured creditors, Bloomberg News reported. The transaction includes an agreement with Finacity founder Adrian Katz, who dropped demands for $21.2 million in payments related to Greensill’s purchase of Finacity in 2019. In return, the bankrupt U.S. unit will not try to sue Katz or certain other insiders for their role in the deal.

Canada's inflation rate jumped to 3.7 per cent in July, as the cost of shelter and durable goods went up at a fast enough pace to push the cost of living up to its highest level since 2011, CBC reported. Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the homeowners' replacement cost index, which is related to the price of new homes, went up at an annual pace of 13.7 per cent in July. That's the fastest uptick on record dating back to 1987.

Laurentian University has issued a request for proposals from firms to undertake a review of its governance and operations as it continues through its insolvency restructuring, Sudbury.com reported. The university has set an Aug. 31 deadline for companies bidding on any one of, or a combination of the following: a governance review of Laurentian’s senate; a governance review of Laurentian’s board of governors; and an operational review. Companies interested in the contract have been asked to make submissions through MERX (reference No. 0000205175) and Bonfire.

London-based Pearson PLC will pay $1 million to settle charges it misled investors about a 2018 cyber intrusion involving the theft of millions of student records, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday, Reuters reported. The educational-publishing firm did not admit nor deny the regulator's charges, the SEC said, but in 2019 the firm disclosed in its annual report that the data breach may have included birth dates and email addresses, when, in fact, it knew that such records were stolen.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said that it will make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for airline and rail passengers, transportation workers and federal employees, in one of its final announcements before the start of a Canadian election campaign, Bloomberg News reported. Government officials said on Friday that the plan is to require government staff to be inoculated by early fall. Workers and passengers on airlines, railways and cruise ships will also need proof of vaccination by the end of October. “We need to regain public confidence in travel.

Mexico can use a multibillion dollar transfer from the International Monetary Fund to prepay debt, as the country’s president is considering, but the government would need to purchase the funds from the central bank, Banxico Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF’s transfer to the central bank of the recently-approved reserves, worth roughly $12 billion, isn’t a “donation,” Diaz de Leon said in an interview late Thursday.

Thousands of small and medium-sized Cuban businesses will be allowed to incorporate in the coming months, in one of the most important economic reforms taken by the island's Communist government since it nationalized all enterprises in the 1960s, Reuters reported. The reform, details of which came to light this week, will permit small and medium-sized businesses for the first time since 1968, putting an end to the legal limbo in which many have existed for years in the Soviet-style economy.

Over six months after Laurentian entered insolvency proceedings, the Sudbury, Ont., university has published a draft framework for claims to be submitted by faculty, staff and employees affected by restructuring — but one of the parties says the details aren't finalized and negotiations are ongoing, CBC reported. All parties are due before a judge next on Tuesday for a discussion on the compensation methodology.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning a snap election for Sept. 20 to seek voter approval for the government's costly plans to combat COVID-19, Retuers reported. Trudeau is set to make the announcement on Sunday, according to sources. Trudeau aides have said for months that the ruling Liberals would push for a vote before end-2021, two years ahead of schedule. Trudeau only has a minority government and relies on other parties to push through legislation. In recent months he has complained about what he calls opposition obstruction.