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Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,

Quadriga is not being investigated by RCMP, lawyer says: “We are not aware of any investigation into Quadriga itself,” Richard Niedermayer, a lawyer for the platform, known as QuadrigaCX, told The Globe and Mail on Thursday. Mr. Niedermayer’s statement contradicts local news reports from earlier this week that said QuadrigaCX was the subject of a criminal investigation involving the RCMP. Story (Jessica Leeder)

Agency that tracks money laundering and terrorist financing to boost transparency: The federal agency that tracks money laundering and terrorist financing is answering calls for greater transparency by publishing guides detailing how it enforces laws designed to stem the flow of illicit funds. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FinTRAC) has spent the past two years reviewing and revising internal policies and practices to make them available to the public. Story (James Bradshaw, for subscribers)

Aphria’s former legal adviser brokered first meeting with hostile bidder: Canadian cannabis producer Aphria Inc. and its American suitor first held discussions about a potential partnership last September, in a sit-down brokered by Aphria’s recently replaced legal adviser, new regulatory filings reveal. On Wednesday, Aphria’s board rejected a hostile takeover bid launched by Ohio-based Green Growth Brands Inc. The suitor is a newly created company backed by the Schottenstein family and run by former retailing executive Peter Horvath. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)

Why Ottawa must rethink the stress test on mortgage switches: "Mortgage rules have a broad and direct impact on many people’s lives,” says the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. You can say that again. Since Canada’s most recent mortgage stress test began a year ago, more than one in 10 potential borrowers can no longer qualify for a bank mortgage, real estate prices are falling, homes are taking longer to sell, record numbers of Canadians are turning to costly higher-risk lenders and untold numbers of mortgage renewers are now paying higher rates. Opinion (Rob McLister)

MORE FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS

Bank merger: A more permissive regulatory environment culminated on Thursday in the biggest bank merger since the 2007-2009 financial crisis, and more deals are likely, analysts and investors said. U.S. regional lender BB&T Corp. said it will buy rival SunTrust Banks Inc. for about US$28-billion ($37-billion) in stock. Story (for subscribers)

MORE DEALS NEWS

Retail sector: A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved Sears Holdings Corp Chairman Eddie Lampert’s US$5.2-billion takeover of the beleaguered retailer, allowing the department store chain to avert liquidation and preserve tens of thousands of jobs. Story

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Bank stocks rock for yield-hungry investors, so why hold bonds?: The trauma of 2008-09 forgotten, investors are once again acting like bank stocks can do no wrong. A reader of retirement age with a good pension told me recently he has 95 per cent of his investments in stocks, much of that in banks providing him with a yield of about 5 per cent. His question: “These banks have never suspended dividends that I know of, so why would I invest in bonds that might pay 2 per cent?” If there’s a case for using bank stocks for income and not holding bonds, it’s this investor. Story (Rob Carrick, for subscribers)

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