You know you're doing something right (or horribly wrong) when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) starts paying attention.  

The trade commission has fined fast fashion behemoth Fashion Nova for blocking thousands of negative reviews on their website from 2015 to2019. It’s the first time a company has been penalized by a federal agency for suppressing reviews.

It's not the first time the FTC has punished Fashion Nova—in 2020, they paid US$9.3 million to customers for breaking their own shipping and refund policies. 

Paying up: Suppressing negative reviews for flashy tops and bodycon dresses prevents customers from making an informed decision about their Miami weekend trip haul, while Fashion Nova profited.

• Fashion Nova will pay up$4.2 million and post all future reviews to settle the allegations but says the FTC's allegations are "inaccurate and deceptive" and that they fixed the issue as soon as it became aware of it. 

Zoom out: The agency has issued new guidance for online retailers and review platforms to avoid misleading customers in the future. 

Despite some questionable marketing tactics and labour practices that have drawn the ire of critics, fast fashion doesn't appear to be slowing down. Gen-Z fast-fashion giant Shein, which also happens to be one of the world's fastest-growing e-commerce companies, has revived plans to go public in the US later this year.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) and US Federal Reserve announced they’d keep giving away free-ish money, while strongly signalling plans to hike interest rates in March.

• Many analysts, including Scotiabank, expected the BoC to raise its key interest to 0.50% from its current level of 0.25% but Governor Tiff Macklem said the uncertainty caused by the Omicron wave gave the bank pause.

What they said: Macklem made it clear (rather, as clear as central bank statements can get) to reporters that “everybody should expect interest rates to be on a rising path.” And in a media statement, the bank said it believed the economy had recovered, suggesting that rock-bottom rates would not persist for long.

• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a similar tone, saying the Fed had achieved its goals of full employment and sustained wage growth.

Why it matters: Some analysts argue that the BoC’s decision to stand pat will only accelerate inflation (already at 30-year highs) and send housing prices even higher. BMO Chief Economist Douglas Porter told The Globe and Mail the decision could push house prices up by sending an “all-clear” signal to buyers considering large mortgages.

• The BoC is still predicting that inflation will start to fall in Q3, declining to 3% by the end of the year.

Bottom line: The central bank announcements yesterday made it clear that the days of near-zero interest rates in Canada and the U.S. are almost over.

Canadian National (CN) Railway named a new CEO after an activist investor waged a months-long campaign for the company to juice up its financial performance. 

Catch up: After losing an acquisition battle for Kansas City Southern (KCS) to Canada Pacific (CP) Rail, CN’s second-biggest shareholder began pressing for leadership and operational changes. 

Soon after the failed takeover, TCI Fund Management wrote a corporate version of an angry text calling for changes at CN. Over 102 pages, they proposed:

• Swapping out board members for ones with more railroad experience.
  
  
• Replacing CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest with former COO Jim Vena (more railroad experience).
  
  
• Marketing the railway to new customers, as a sustainable alternative to trucking.
  
  

Now that the dust has settled: Tracy Robinson will step into the CEO role next month and is arguably the most qualified person in the country after spending 27 years at rival Canadian Pacific Railway. 

• CN also handed TCI Management to two of the railroad’s board seats as part of a settlement that prevents a proxy fight and ends a long period of uncertainty over the leadership of one of North America’s largest railroads. 

What’s next for CN: Robinson’s experience at CP and her most recent role at TC Energy may help expand the railway’s offering, and in turn, bump its stock price. 

Robinson said she’s learning French to better communicate with CN Railway’s francophone employees—an indirect shot at Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau, who has avoided French despite living in Quebec for 15 years. 

The latest company to enter the war between fintechs and startups for talent? Big banks.

As part of a shift to a digital-focused strategy to attract and retain customers, TD is tripling its digital capacity and RBC has made technology a key pillar of its strategy.

Both are focused on fending off big tech companies, like Apple and Alphabet, that are starting to dabble in financial services.

• TD wants to hire 2,000 tech workers in 2022 who are skilled in cloud-computing, AI and agile project management—a number six times more than last year.

• RBC is struggling to hire tech talent across the US and Canada, especially individuals who are skilled in engineering, AI, data, mathematics and coding.  

What’s driving the talent shortage? RBC CEO David McKay has said Canada’s high housing costs coupled with a lack of spots in engineering programs are adding to the problem.

Zoom out: The demand for skilled tech workers has jumped during the pandemic across the financial services sector—engineers who specialise in DevOps, a field that combines software development with IT operations, for instance, are in 400% more demand.