Canada

Sino-Forest Corp has asked a Canadian court to extend creditor protection granted to the Chinese forestry company last month until July 9, saying it would create certainty for potential buyers considering a bid for its assets, Reuters reported. The Ontario Superior Court's current order of protection under Canada's Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act expires April 29. The company, accused of fraudulently exaggerating its assets, said the allegations had paralyzed its business. Sino-Forest's Toronto-listed shares tanked last June after a short-seller made allegations against it.

Lawyers handling a $9 billion class-action lawsuit against Sino-Forest Corp. will ask an Ontario judge on Friday to terminate bankruptcy proceedings involving the troubled timber company, the Toronto Star reported. When Sino-Forest, which is based in Mississauga but operates in China, sought protection from creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act last month, any pending legal actions were essentially put on hold.

Sino-Forest, the Chinese forestry company whose stock collapsed after a short-seller's fraud accusations, said on Monday that Canada's top securities regulator found that its conduct ran afoul of sections of securities law pertaining to fraud, Reuters reported. The Ontario Securities Commission made its findings known to Sino-Forest by serving the Toronto-listed company and some of its current and former executives with enforcement notices, the company said in a statement on Monday.

A group of Catalyst Paper Corp.'s first-lien noteholders will serve as stalking-horse bidder with a $275 million bid for the British Columbia specialty paper and newsprint producer if the company's reorganization efforts fail, The Deal reported. According to an April 1 monitor's report, CP Acquisition LLC, an entity controlled by the company's first-lien noteholders, is the debtor's stalking-horse bidder. Invesco Canada Ltd. owns the majority of the secured notes.

Ernst & Young LLP has resigned as Sino-Forest's auditor, days after a Canadian court granted creditor protection to the embattled Chinese forestry company and months after fraud allegations triggered a stampede out of its stock, Reuters reported. Sino-Forest's Toronto-listed shares tanked last June after a short-seller accused it of exaggerating the size of its forestry assets. The company says the allegations have paralyzed its business.

The Quebec government is threatening legal action against Air Canada over its alleged failure to comply with a federal law that requires the continued operation of maintenance services in Montreal, CanadianBusiness.com reported on a Canadian Press story. Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier told a news conference in Quebec City that the carrier had previously given assurances that its heavy maintenance operations would be continue to be performed in Montreal — effectively by Aveos Fleet Performance, the sucessor to a former subsidiary sold off by the airline.

Richard Chandler, the New Zealand billionaire and biggest shareholder of Sino-Forest, has hired a team to plan a rescue restructuring of the Chinese timber group after it filed for bankruptcy protection last week, the Financial Times reported. Richard Chandler Corporation, his investment vehicle, said on Monday that it had assembled a group including David Walker, an expert in the Asian forestry sector, to lead its proposal for the restructuring of Sino-Forest. “Sino-Forest faces a range of complex problems,” Mr Walker said.

Sino-Forest Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a plan that may see the Chinese timber grower company sold to bondholders, nine months after it was accused of fraud by short seller Carson Block, Bloomberg reported. The company obtained an initial order for creditor protection in the Ontario Superior Court under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, Sino-Forest said yesterday in a statement.

The parent of an aircraft maintenance company spun off by Air Canada is expanding in El Salvador even as its Canadian arm liquidates its assets after terminating more than 2,600 employees, Reuters reported. Aveos, which shut its doors in Canada earlier this week, has corporate ties with El Salvador's Aeroman, with Aero Technical Support & Services Holdings, a closely held company domiciled in Luxembourg, owning both of them. While Aveos may count the Salvadoran unit as part of its network, the two operations are independent of each other, said Ernesto Ruiz, chief executive of Aeroman.

Air Canada is obliged by law to keep operations going at facilities that service its planes in the Canadian cities of Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montreal, Canadian Transport Minister Denis Lebel said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Lebel said the government was receiving advice about Air Canada's legal obligations with regards to Aveos, once part of the carrier's own maintenance unit. Aveos obtained bankruptcy protection on Monday, but it has since ceased all operations in Canada.