Deal making by Mexican companies declined for the second year in a row in 2017 on concerns about the future of free trade with the U.S. and uncertainty related to next year’s presidential elections, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mergers and acquisitions involving Mexican companies and assets totaled $23.7 billion in dollar terms, a decrease of 5 percent from 2016, according to data compiled by Dealogic. There were 230 transactions in 2017, compared with 241 the year before. “The main reason is the significant uncertainty related to the economy and free trade.

Economic output in Canada unexpectedly stalled in October—due to a decline in the energy sector—likely curbing expectations of a rate increase from the Bank of Canada in January, the Wall Street Journal reported. The level of Canada’s gross domestic product--the broadest measure of goods and services produced in an economy--was unchanged in October from the previous month at 1.75 trillion Canadian dollars ($1.37 trillion) on a seasonally-adjusted basis, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

China Construction America Inc. was accused in a lawsuit of ripping off the original developer of the long-delayed $3.9 billion Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas by submitting fraudulent bills and collecting undeserved fees, Bloomberg News reported. BML Properties Ltd., led by wealthy Bahamas businessman Sarkis Izmirlian, sued CCA Tuesday claiming the state-owned Chinese contractor pulled off a “massive fraud” to enrich itself at BML’s expense, leading to the collapse of the project in 2015.

Central bankers are starting to see promising results from one of the recent additions to their monetary policy toolbox, Bloomberg News reported. Lending curbs to stem financial risk -- so-called macroprudential limits -- have helped slow risky borrowing and temper property price bubbles in countries from New Zealand to Canada, a host of financial stability reports showed this week. While there hasn’t been uniform success -- Hong Kong’s housing market shows no signs of cooling -- it’s given central banks some breathing space to be more gradual in tightening monetary policy.

Crystallex International Corp. and Venezuela agreed to settle a $1.2 billion dispute over the 2011 nationalization of a gold deposit in the South American nation, Bloomberg News reported. Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey in Toronto approved the settlement on Friday after it was announced two days earlier through filings in Canada. Parts of the agreement remain sealed, including the amount to be paid.

Sears Canada’s liquidation sales, which began last week, have disappointed early bargain seekers, but steeper discounts expected further into Canada’s holiday shopping season are likely to squeeze rivals, analysts say. Sears Canada, which was spun off from Sears Holdings Corp. in 2012, is preparing to shut its doors in early 2018 after years of falling sales and sliding market share, Reuters reported. It won court approval this month to liquidate its assets after failing to secure a rescue deal.

Concordia International Corp., stumbling under debt that the Canadian drugmaker piled on during a takeover spree, is seeking to restructure its finances and cut borrowings by at least $2 billion after missing an interest payment Monday on some unsecured bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Management is pursuing a plan under the Canada Business Corporations Act, according to a statement Friday, which didn’t outline any potential terms of a deal but said the company would continue making payments on its secured debt.

Cuba paid the second installment on a renegotiated $2.6 billion in debt to 14 wealthy creditor nations this week, diplomats from a number of the countries said, as some creditors prepare to swap debt for an equity stake in local development projects, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the payment showed the importance Cuba attaches to an agreement it reached in 2015 with the Paris Club group of major creditor nations.

Sears Canada recently announced that it's closing all stores and eliminating thousands of jobs in Mississauga and beyond. This might be sad news for employees and anyone who feels some nostalgia thinking about Sears catalogues, but it also means that sales are coming. Prior to the court ruling, Sears said it would proceed with liquidation sales at retail locations on October 19 and continue for 10 to 14 weeks, Insauga reported.

Sears Canada on Friday won court approval to begin liquidating all its remaining assets starting Oct. 19, putting the retail chain with 12,000 employees on a path to closure after 65 years in the country. The approval was granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which also extended creditor protection for Sears Canada to Jan. 22, Reuters reported. The public liquidation sales are set to end on Jan. 21.