Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the past week:
SNC scales back energy, mining business by more than half: The Montreal-based engineering company will close or sell resource operations in 21 of 30 countries where it currently has offices to focus on select key markets, SNC said in a statement accompanying second-quarter results Friday. The move will result in a 60-per-cent drop in employees working on resource contracts, from 15,000 to 6,000 people by the end of next year, the company said. (Nicolas Van Praet)
Canada’s insurers set for double-digit profit drops amid COVID-19: Canadian life insurers are set to see double-digit earnings decreases in the second quarter as the pandemic-induced economic slowdown has ushered in decade-low interest rates and weighed on sales. (Reuters)
Bay Street will remain quiet this fall as companies move slowly to bring back workers: The skyscrapers and underground tunnels of Toronto’s financial district will remain quiet throughout the fall as banks, law firms and accounting companies take a cautious approach to reopening head offices, and most employees continue to work from home despite the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions. (Mark Rendell, James Bradshaw and Clare O’Hara)
Royal Bank cuts ties with beleaguered WE Charity: Royal Bank of Canada has decided to cut all its ties to WE Charity less than a week after announcing a review of its partnerships with the beleaguered organization. (Paul Waldie)
Investors in Ontario Sikh community lose millions from real estate investment scheme: A large group of retail investors from the Toronto area’s Sikh community are out as much as $9-million after purported land developers pitching housing projects allegedly diverted their investments for their own use, including making a down payment on a 2019 Lamborghini, court records show. (Greg McArthur)
Vancouver COVID-19 therapy developer AbCellera eyeing potential IPO as early as fall: A heavily funded Vancouver biotechnology startup whose work to find a treatment for COVID-19 has captured global attention says it could go public as early as this fall to capitalize on investor enthusiasm for health care stocks. (Sean Silcoff)
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