In late May, the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) denied an application for leave to appeal a decision of the Court of Appeal of Alberta (the ABCA), which, in turn, had denied leave to appeal of the decision of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta (the ABKB) in Re Mantle Materials Group, Ltd, 2023 ABKB 488 (Mantle KB).
The U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2023
Federal Bill C-2281 (the Bill), new legislation intended to improve the protection of, and to extend the super-priority given to claims relating to, defined benefit pension plans in insolvency proceedings, completed third reading in the Senate on April 18, 2023 and is now awaiting Royal Assent before it becomes effective. The Bill is the result of a private members' bill, which was passed by the House of Commons in late 2022.
The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan has rejected another attempt by a rural municipality to gain priority in an oil and gas receivership. This follows the recent Alberta Decision in Orphan Well Association v Trident Exploration Corp, 2022 ABKB 839, where the Alberta Court of King's Bench confirmed that the abandonment and reclamation obligations owed to the Orphan Well Association and the Alberta Energy Regulator rank in priority to claims of municipalities for unpaid property taxes in insolvency proceedings.
The U.K. government has published its much-anticipated proposals for regulating the cryptoasset industry. These proposals, currently in the form of a consultation, will see many (but not all) cryptoasset-related activities being brought within the regulatory perimeter for financial services in the U.K.
Courts Now Have More Discretion Regarding Plans of Arrangement Under Alberta's Amended Business Corporations Act
Directors resign for many reasons. For example, there may be disagreements among stakeholders about the future course of the company, they may be concerned about the risks associated with financial difficulty/insolvency, or they may just wish to retire.
This is one of a series of articles we at Morton Fraser are producing to guide our clients through the wholesale change proposed in Scots law in relation to security over goods, intellectual property and shares, on the one hand, and invoice finance or the purchase of receivables, on the other. For a general introduction to what the Bill covers, see here.
Regulatory obligations often conflict with bankruptcy law. It has long been considered a necessary benefit that people get a fresh start through bankruptcy. The law provides for exceptions to this principle, on the basis of equally important public policy grounds that certain penalties and obligations should not be so easily avoided.
UK Government introduces a temporary increase to minimum debt level required for a winding up petition
Restrictions have been in place since the start of the pandemic to prevent creditors taking steps to wind up debtor companies. Those restrictions are due to expire on September 30, 2021. To lessen the risk of October seeing a mass rush by creditors seeking to wind up their debtors, the UK Government has introduced a further temporary measure in connection with liquidation petitions.