Category: 3. Business

GWR is advising those travelling this Christmas to book in advance and to try to travel at quieter times for the best experience.

To avoid busy trains, the rail network has the following advice:

• Services are expected to be busiest on 22, 23 December and 27, 28 December.

• Travel as early as you can for the most comfortable journey. Services between 1000 and 1400 GMT will be most in demand.

• Please be aware that rail services will shut down earlier on Christmas Eve. Check your journey in advance.

• As usual, no train services will operate on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

From 27 December to 4 January, track renewal work will affect some train services to/from London Paddington and trains will run to an amended timetable because only two out of four tracks will be available.

Experts are constantly warning the public to be on guard for new and increasingly convincing scams, but police say the holiday shopping season is especially fraught with risk.

Fredericton Police Sgt. Chris Furlotte, who oversees the patrol division, said officers are seeing an increasing variety of scams, especially as the holidays ramp up.

While most people keep a close eye on their digital wallet and online banking, Furlotte says the real world is a potential minefield as well.

He says shoppers should be wary of so-called parking lot scams.

“We may see folks and scam artists approach individuals at cars or as they’re loading their groceries or items from the store in an attempt to distract them and steal a purse or a wallet or maybe even attempt to steal a vehicle,” Furlotte said.

He urged people to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings, and avoid engaging with strangers.

“And don’t be afraid to ask for help or disengage a situation that feels suspicious to you.”

With many people shopping online for the holidays, package thefts are also on the rise.

“Those are just the items that are left unattended on the front step or front porch while folks are at work,” Furlottte said.

A spokesperson for the Fredericton Police Force said in an email statement that there had been 115 instances of credit card fraud reported to them so far this year, and 158 instances of other types of fraud. 

Furlotte said more and more scams “prey on emotions” like grandparents’ scams, when someone will pose as a family member calling or reaching out online in a supposed emergency for financial help.

“They want people to not verify the information and just send the money along.”

There’s also been instances of paving scams, he said, when a travelling group will talk to homeowners and offer a quote to repave their driveway.

Naturally, the fraudsters ask for a deposit, promising to come back to do the work.

“And these companies just don’t show up in the end,” said Furlotte.

“They typically give folks a price that’s too good to be true. It’s a lot cheaper than the competitors locally.” 

Furlotte said avoiding scams always boils down to a simple formula.

“Realistically, it’s just be vigilant, be aware of your surroundings, don’t leave things unattended, you know, and don’t be in a rush to verify information,” Furlotte said.

He added that it’s important for people to report any scams they encounter to police.

“If we don’t know the problem exists in our community, we’re not able to act appropriately or at least respond appropriately to deal with it,” Furlotte said.

Even if police are not able to help the person who is victim to the scam Furlotte said the information about the fraud helps investigators direct their focus.

RCMP spokesperson Luc Picard, a constable with the Codiac Detachment, said in an interview that scammers change their tactics throughout the year.

“For example, when it’s tax time, often people will receive calls from the Canada Revenue Agency saying that you owe money to the government and you have warrants and all that,” he said.

Picard urged people to remember that government agencies or banks will not call you if you owe money. If you don’t recognize a number, don’t answer it, he said, because people will leave a message if it’s important. 

While investigating scams can be challenging for the RCMP because scammers might not even be located within Canada, Picard said it’s important for police to be contacted so they can take a report from the victim.

Picard said the RCMP has a unit called the community police unit that visits seniors homes, schools or businesses to educate people about different types of scams.

“You don’t have to be ashamed to be a victim of a scam, but you need to know where to find help,” Picard said. 

He also urged victims of scams to reach out to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center, a federal agency that collects information on fraud and identity theft.

Their website said that as of Sep. 30, there have been 23, 113 victims of fraud reported in Canada, with losses totalling $544 million.

Rail timetables are changed every May and December, but rarely to this degree.

Network Rail is promising quicker journeys and thousands of extra seats every day, following a £4bn investment over the past decade.

The changes promise a cut of 15 minutes to journey times between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh and 10 minutes between Edinburgh and York.

Network Rail says the rail line, which is used by several operators, will have improved connectivity between Scotland, North East, England, Yorkshire and London.

One of the companies using the line, LNER, called the changes “transformational” and said it expected to run 10,000 additional services per year.

Ellie Burrows, Eastern regional managing director for Network Rail, said: “The industry has been preparing for many years for the new timetable.

“Our priority now is to continue working together to deliver the long-term benefits of this timetable change, the biggest in over a decade, for our passengers and the communities we serve.”

The changes will also see Northern launch a new hourly fast service between Leeds and Sheffield.

Another operator, Avanti, says there will be more trains between London and Liverpool.

Meanwhile Transport for Wales is introducing more services for Chester, Wrexham and Swansea.

The changes are the biggest since May 2018 when a timetable update triggered major disruption and cancellations on some services.

That led to a full review and eventually the Labour government’s decision to create Great British Railways and bring the industry under state control.

Travel expert Simon Calder said he was “pretty confident we won’t see the complete collapse of a network, as we did when the Thameslink line had its timetable completely reconfigured in 2018 – that was an absolute shambles”.

“There has been an awful lot of thought and time that has gone into this and the whole idea is to extract the maximum possible capacity from Britain’s Victorian rail network without jeopardising reliability.”

Mark Kalinowski has been a credit counsellor for nearly 14 years, helping people of all generations manage their debt. But this year, more than a quarter of the clients he saw in his Calgary office were under the age of 35.

“They’ll come in and sometimes they’ll cry, sometimes they’ll be angry, they’ll be very, very frustrated because they don’t know why their life’s on hold,” said Kalinowski.

The Credit Counselling Society — the debt management non-profit where Kalinowski works — served more 18-to-34-year-olds in 2025 than at any other point in its history, its spokesperson told CBC News.

• Do you have a debt story to share? Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.

Many have a mountain of student loans. Some are facing the daunting task of managing a credit card for the first time. Still others are navigating the high cost of living against slow-growing wages.

As if that weren’t enough, Kalinowski and other experts say the ubiquity of “buy now, pay later” plans are compounding the problem and fuelling a debt crisis among 20 and 30-somethings.

“I won’t say that they feel hopeless, but they do feel a little bit lost and they’re not sure how to gain traction,” said Kalinowski.

Buy now, pay later debt ‘hard to manage’

The problem that those under 35 face isn’t necessarily that they’re accumulating debt — it’s where the debt is sourced from, explained Jodi Letkiewicz, an assistant professor at California State University currently on leave from York University in Toronto.

“This isn’t necessarily, ‘Oh, they’re just going out and partying and spending and shopping.’ This is just like basic consumption smoothing. It’s trying to pay bills,” she explained.

That kind of consumer debt shows “warning signs” of a fractured economy, said Letkiewicz. “Because when people are late on those, it tells us that they’re not able to keep up with their cost of living.”

The rise of buy now, pay later plans, which allow consumers to purchase an item online and pay it off in manageable chunks, is an important piece of the financial puzzle.

Researchers are still trying to understand how consumers interact with buy now, pay later plans. One peer-reviewed study published in December 2024 found that younger consumers in the U.S. are more likely to use the plans for online purchases compared to older demographics, and are likely to spend more as a result.

Another, published in March of last year, found that U.S. consumers who used buy now, pay later saw sharp increases in bank overdraft charges and credit card interest and fees compared to those who didn’t use the services.

There’s less research on the Canadian side. While a recent pilot study from the Financial Consumer Agency showed that the 18-34 year olds surveyed used online buy now, pay later plans at a far higher rate than any other age group, the representative sample is far too small — 66 people overall — to generalize its findings.

However, Letkiewicz points to the ubiquity of services like Klarna, Affirm and PayPal — which are all now available to Canadian consumers who shop online — as a potential red flag.

“It’s easier than going and getting a credit card, it’s easier than getting a payday loan. And so I think that’s part of what’s happening — it’s become so much easier and it’s not all in one place,” said Letkiewicz.

“So it doesn’t look like, ‘Oh, I have $30,000 in credit card debt.’ It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m making this payment to this, and this payment to this, and this payment to this,’ and that gets really hard to manage.”

‘Less equipped’ to deal with economic swings

It’s not unusual for younger cohorts to miss credit payments at a higher rate than older generations, according to Rebecca Oakes, the vice-president of research at credit reporting firm Equifax in Toronto.

“Generally speaking, they’re kind of less equipped to manage peaks and troughs in the economy and things like that,” she told CBC News.

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However, Equifax’s internal data shows that people under 30 who have a credit card have seen their average balance rise faster than other demographics for the last two years.

That cohort has also seen the fastest growth in missed payments on credit cards in the last year, according to Equifax research.

About one in 20 people between the ages of 18 and 35 missed a credit card payment during the third quarter of this year, according to Equifax. The delinquency rate for 18-to-25-year-olds stood at 2.11 per cent, up 16.58 per cent from the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, a third quarter credit industry report from TransUnion recently showed that delinquency rates for those born between 1995 and 2010 rose eight basis points to 1.29 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Roughly 84 per cent of those clients have credit cards, compared to 61 per cent of people born between 1980 and 1994 who had credit cards at the same age.

According to TransUnion, the younger group is missing fewer payments than the older group did when they were the same age, and their balances aren’t as high.

A pattern of missed payments, however, is going strong, according to Oakes.

“Whereas we’ve seen more stabilisation coming in, perhaps, with some of the older consumers, the young consumers still seem to be struggling and still seem to be increasing their missed payments,” she said.

Kalinowski, the credit counsellor, says he sometimes works with clients for years. “If they impact their credit in a substantial way when they’re young … it tends to stick with them for six or seven years until it purges off their credit report.”

But he’s also found that younger clients are more likely to seek help in the first place.

“It’s more socially acceptable in their eyes to say, ‘Look, I’ve got a money problem. It’s something that I am going to have to talk about and go and try and fix sooner than later,’ ” he said.

“The fantastic thing about that is the sooner you try and fix an issue, the sooner you come up with your solution and you move on with life.”

• The EBRD launches its first investment in Iraq
• US$ 100 million trade finance extended to National Bank of Iraq
• Financing to boost trade finance access for MSMEs and strengthen integration with international markets

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched its first investment in Iraq, providing a US$ 100 million trade finance facility to the National Bank of Iraq (NBI), the country’s largest private bank.

This new trade finance limit will contribute to boosting the country’s import and export activities. It will support the NBI’s trade finance operations by issuing guarantees to confirming banks and offering cash advances for imports, exports and the local distribution of goods under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP).

The facility will also promote greater trade integration in Iraq by extending guarantees and credit lines to mitigate political and commercial payment risks associated with international transactions undertaken by partner banks in the economies where the EBRD works.

The investment will improve access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and facilitate intra-regional trade. It will also help the NBI diversify its correspondent banking relationships and strengthen trade finance links with other EBRD countries of operation.

EBRD Head of Iraq, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, said: “We are proud to sign our first investment in Iraq and to partner with the National Bank of Iraq. This facility represents a major milestone in supporting the country’s economy by expanding access to trade finance, fostering integration with international markets and strengthening the resilience of local businesses. We look forward to playing a key role in building robust financial institutions and promoting sustainable economic growth in Iraq.”

Ayman Abu Dhaim, CEO of the National Bank of Iraq, said: “This partnership with the EBRD marks a pivotal milestone in NBI’s growth journey and in Iraq’s broader financial landscape. Through this facility, we aim to strengthen the flow of trade, empower Iraqi businesses, especially MSMEs, and open new channels that connect Iraq to global markets with greater confidence and stability. It reflects our continued commitment to driving economic development and supporting Iraq’s integration into the regional and international economy.”

The EBRD TFP was launched in 1999 with the aim of promoting international trade between the economies in the Bank’s regions, in the form of guarantees and short-term loans to selected participating banks and factoring companies.

The NBI is the largest private bank in Iraq and a universal bank with activities in retail, SME and corporate banking, trade finance, and treasury services. Established in 1995, it is majority-owned by the Capital Bank of Jordan, an EBRD client since 2015.

The EBRD began operations in Iraq in September 2025, focusing on the private sector to unlock access to finance, promote local businesses and foster sustainable, long-term growth, contributing to the transformation of the country’s economy.

 

Barakat, Maher & Partners, in association with Clyde & Co, has successfully advised Edita Food Industries, SAE, on the delisting of its Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the subsequent conversion of the GDRs into local shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX).

This complex and multidimensional transaction required coordinated work across two jurisdictions and two stock exchanges, namely the London Stock Exchange and the Egyptian Stock Exchange, as well as close collaboration with the Bank of New York, Milan (BNYM) the depository bank. We are proud to have partnered with the exceptional legal team of Edita Food Industries, led by Lobna Khater, Chief Legal Officer and Government Affairs, on this strategic milestone, which is a highly effective collaboration that played a pivotal role in the timely completion of this delisting.

This high-profile transaction was successfully completed through the joint efforts between our Cairo and UK offices, reflecting our integrated cross-border capabilities in the Capital Market sector and underscoring our firm’s capability to execute complex multijurisdictional mandates with precision.

The transaction was led by Mostafa Elsakaa, Partner and Head of Capital Market in our Cairo office, and Andrew Chadwick, M&A and Corporate Finance Solicitor and Legal Director in our London office, with the support of Mohamed ElHossamy, Associate. 

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Two years since opening our Cairo office, our team has established itself as a transactional powerhouse, advising local and international businesses across a wide range of sectors. We have successfully handled complex M&A transactions, including advising on the first merger in Egypt’s private sector insurance industry, as well as handling private equity, anti-trust, competition, regulatory and corporate matters. Our teams expertise also extends to joint ventures (JVs), restructurings, separations and carve-outs, together with initial public offerings (IPOs) and securitization deals including four closings for Capital for Securitization on the mortgage portfolio of Bedaya, the fourth issuance valued at EGP 1,637,000,000 on 26 March 2025, the third issuance valued at  EGP 1,780,500,000 on 25 December 2024 and the first two issuances, valued at EGP 843 million on 29 December 2023 and EGP 1,415,500,000 on 10 October 2024. As well as closing the successful securitization deal, Capital for Securitization on the microfinance portfolio of Erada Microfinance valued at EGP 718 million in January 2025. 

Google Gemini 3, on the other hand, integrates seamlessly with Google’s ecosystem, making it the go-to for users relying on Google Workspace, VS Code, or Google Cloud. Its multimodal capabilities and “Deep Think” mode make it perfect for advanced problem-solving and development.

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A spokesperson for the council said: “We’re saddened to learn that Bonners will be leaving the Covered Market after many years as a valued trader.

“Bonners has been an important part of the market’s character since around 1952, and we wish the owners and staff all the very best for the future.”

Oxford’s Covered Market was first opened in the 18th century as a market for meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and herbs.

But Bonners was the only remaining greengrocer based in the building.

The council’s spokesperson continued: “Bonners’ departure will create the only available space, and we will try to find a new greengrocer to complement the market’s vibrant mix of traders.”