Cinar Corp has halted its suit against three Bahamas companies after a deal was reached allowing the Canadian animation company to examine the assets of Globe-X Canadiana.

Cinar filed a suit against Globe-X Canadiana and affiliates Globe-X Management and Norshield International for the recovery of the remaining $86m of a $122m sum it claims was invested without the approval of Cinar's board of directors. A portion of the money was placed in fixed short-term debt securities of Globe-X Canadiana.

Yesterday's settlement, the details of which are confidential, will allow Cinar to evaluate the safety of its Globe-X Canadiana investments. In turn, it will advise Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges on its findings. Trading of Cinar shares has been halted since March 8.

Affidavits filed in the Nassau court state that Cinar senior co-CEOs Ronald Weinberg and Micheline Charest, who have since stepped down from their executive positions but remain as directors of the company, did in fact know about - and approve - the investments. However, newly appointed Cinar president Barrie Usher says that the unsecured investments were never disclosed to the board.