FI and D&O Since our last update, there have been significant developments in the FI and D&O landscape. November saw the first ever UK deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) announced between the SFO and Standard Bank. The DPA process has been available but unused since 2014 so the judgment and the SFO’s comments thereafter provided some much needed guidance on what the process involved. Significantly, weight was placed on Standard Bank’s early self-reporting and cooperation.
When a company files for bankruptcy, employees are faced with uncertainty on a number of issues. Everything from outstanding wages to benefit entitlements are suddenly at risk. Further, when a company becomes insolvent, employees are often laid off in circumstances that fail to satisfy statutory or common law notice period entitlements. However, under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”), employees are often barred from fully recovering what they are owed.
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court sheds light on when a commercial landlord is required to give consent to an assignment of lease or sublease.
Earlier this summer an affiliate of Rogers Communications Inc. acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of the corporation carrying on the Mobilicity wireless business in the context of Mobilicity’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding.
The failure to perfect a security interest could result in losing property rights altogether in receivership proceedings despite being the owner of the property. A very recent example of this is the case of Wells Fargo Foothill Canada ULC v Big Eagle Hydro-Vac Inc., 2015 ABQB 546 (Wells Fargo).
The failure to perfect a security interest could result in losing property rights altogether despite being the unqualified owner of the property. A very recent example of this is the case of Wells Fargo Foothill Canada ULC v Big Eagle Hydro-Vac Inc., 2015 ABQB, 546 (Wells Fargo).
“Obviously, if everyone is solvent, nobody cares about trusts, secured interests or priorities.
If everyone is solvent, nobody cares about builder’s liens either.”
In a few short words earlier this summer, a majority of the Alberta Court of Appeal defined a legal issue that divided that appellate court. In the result, a statutory construction trust did matter — to the tune of about $1 million. The case should matter to construction lawyers across Canada, too.
In its decision in The Queen v. Callidus Capital Corporation1, rendered on August 17, 2015, the Federal Court of Canada examined, on a retrospective basis, the Crown's absolute priority regarding proceeds remitted to secured creditors from the assets of a tax debtor that are deemed to be held in trust (deemed trust) under section 222 of the Excise Tax Act (the "ETA") prior to such tax debtor's bankruptcy.
The recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision in Yukon Zinc Corporation (Re), 2015 BCSC 836, provides some rare insight into the operation of provincial “miners lien” legislation in an insolvency context.
Background
Iona Contractors Ltd. v. Guarantee Company of North America
The Alberta Court of Appeal released its much anticipated decision addressing the interaction between the trust provisions of the Builders’ Lien Act (“BLA”) and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) in Iona Contractors Ltd. v Guarantee Company of North America, 2015 ABCA 240 on July 16, 2015.