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The number of insolvency filings in Canada jumped in September to the highest since the pandemic began, in what may be the first sign of long-anticipated strains in household finances from the crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada reported 7,658 consumer insolvency filings, up 18.5 percent from August. That’s the biggest monthly increase since 2017, and the most since March when widespread lockdowns were imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. Despite the one-month increase, insolvencies remain at historically low levels — which has been the case for most of 2020 as households continue to benefit from government support measures and payment deferrals from creditors. September filings are still down 36 percent from the same month in 2019. But the pick-up may suggest that reprieve is waning. There were still 1.3 million Canadian workers in September without jobs or working significantly fewer hours because of the pandemic. Filings rose 25 percent on the month in Quebec, and 15 percent in Ontario, though they are still significantly below year-earlier levels in both provinces.

Azul SA, one of Brazil’s largest airlines, is tapping the local debt market for about $325 million of convertible debt with the backing of U.S.-based investment funds Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management, Bloomberg reported. The five-year bonds are denominated in Brazilian reais but indexed to the dollar. Knighthead and Certares are supplying $300 million, which comes from a $1 billion joint fund they created this year to invest in the travel industry, a sector that’s been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining $25 million is being absorbed by the local market. The sale gives low-cost carrier Azul an added cushion as it navigates a drop in air travel that’s prompted Chapter 11 bankruptcies for three of the region’s largest airlines — Latam Airlines Group SA, Avianca Holdings SA and Grupo Aeromexico SA.

With the COVID-19 pandemic grinding international travel to a halt, experts on an online panel at ABI’s International Insolvency Forum set for Nov. 18-20 will provide their insights into distressed non-U.S. airlines filing for chapter 11 protection, and how their cases may differ from domestic carriers. Click here to register. 

The slow resolution of the presidential election, and the growing chance that Democrats and Republicans will divide power in Washington, D.C., next year, has revived lawmaker interest in reaching an agreement on a new economic rescue package before Christmas, the New York Times reported. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday that reaching a deal on a stimulus bill would be “Job 1” when lawmakers return for the lame-duck congressional session after the elections. It is possible that some type of stimulus package could be attached to a bill that would fund the federal government past Dec. 11 — legislation that will be necessary to avoid a government shutdown. The chance of a stimulus deal may be rising, but it is unlikely to result in as large a package as Democrats and President Trump were discussing before the election. Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.), had been talking with the White House about a nearly $2 trillion package that would include direct payments to households, loans for small businesses, and money for schools and state and local governments, as well as expanded coronavirus testing. Senate Republicans were pushing a bill that would have cost well under $1 trillion, possibly as little as $500 billion. Whether a stimulus package becomes reality will depend on several variables, including whether Mr. Trump, whose re-election prospects are fading, is willing to sign a bill. The stakes of the negotiations are also expected to remain murky until it becomes clear which party will control the Senate.

A federal judge ruled yesterday that the Small Business Administration must release detailed information for all Paycheck Protection Program loans, including names of borrowers and precise loan amounts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The SBA had previously released detailed information only for PPP loans above $150,000, a fraction of the loans issued. The ruling also applies to loans under the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. “The significant public interest in shedding light on SBA’s administration of the PPP and EIDL program dramatically outweighs any limited private interest in nondisclosure,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., wrote in his order. The ruling followed a suit by news organizations that sought the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The judge set a Nov. 19 deadline for the SBA to release the information on all individuals and entities that received a coronavirus-related loan through the PPP and EIDL program. The SBA has argued that disclosing the names of loan recipients could violate their privacy because PPP loans correspond to the size of a business’s payroll. In rejecting the SBA’s request to keep the information confidential, Judge Boasberg noted that “the PPP loan application expressly notified potential borrowers — admittedly in a form disclaimer — that their names and loan amounts would be ’automatically released’ upon a FOIA request.”