The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that National Bank of Canada has cleared the last hurdle in its effort to acquire Canadian Western Bank. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc approved the proposed $5-billion stock-swap deal on Friday, just days after he replaced Chrystia Freeland in the role. Canada's banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, also blessed the transaction on Friday. The Competition Bureau of Canada signed off on the deal in late September, meaning all required approvals have now been received. The deal is set to close on Feb. 3, and National Bank intends to provide financial information related to the deal alongside its first-quarter results on Feb. 26. Edmonton-based CWB reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, after a lawsuit forced the bank to delay the release of its quarterly results by nearly two weeks. Ripple effects from the collapse of Canadian trucking conglomerate Pride Group Holdings have required CWB to set aside large sums of money as provisions against loans at risk of default and the bank warned on Wednesday that loan loss provisions will remain elevated through most of 2025.