TODAY, THE EAGERLY-AWAITED JUDGMENT HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN BY MR JUSTICE ZACAROLI IN RESPECT OF THE APPLICATION FOR DIRECTIONS MADE BY OFFICE-HOLDERS OF A NUMBER OF FAILED ENERGY SUPPLIERS. 

The impact of this judgment will be felt much wider than just within the applicants' insolvent estates and it is relevant to any office-holder or unsecured creditor of a failed energy supplier.

On November 10, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) issued its much-anticipated decision in Peace River Hydro Partners v Petrowest Corp, 2022 SCC 41, addressing a key intersection of insolvency and arbitration law—whether and in what circumstances a contractual agreement to arbitrate should give way to the public interest in the orderly and efficient resolution of a court-ordered receivership.

On 27 July 2022, the European Union (Preventative Restructuring) Regulations (the Regulations) were introduced which gave effect to EU Directive 2019/1023 on restructuring and insolvency[1] (the Directive). The Directive’s principal objective is to ensure that all member states have comparable and effective frameworks in place for early warning and prevention of corporate insolvency.

Courts Now Have More Discretion Regarding Plans of Arrangement Under Alberta's Amended Business Corporations Act

One of the main benefits to a purchaser who buys oil and gas assets in a proceeding under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act or a receivership is the near-absolute quieting of title via a "vesting order." In Manitok Energy Inc (Re), the Alberta Court of Appeal confirmed the importance and effect of Sale App

What remedies should lenders, borrowers and opportunistic credit investors prescribe in light of current market practice and documentation?

This article examines some of the current issues arising in leverage finance agreements on defaults and the expansion of express remedy terms that can impact on debt transfers.

Key Points

Houst Limited's (the Company) restructuring plan (under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006) (RP) was recently sanctioned at the High Court on 22 July 2022.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We consider the implications for office-holder claimants of the recent case ofKelmanson v Gallagher & De Weyer [2022] EWHC 395 (Ch).

The case raises interesting points of practice for insolvency practitioners: a director consciously trying to evade or 'game' the statute won't work to prevent office holder recovery, but a sincerely held but mistaken belief on the director's part as to what was being done doing could.

KEY POINTS:

Stoneway was advised in its CBCA proceedings by a team including: Kevin Zych, Michael S. Shakra and Joshua Foster (Restructuring & Insolvency); Richard Swan (Litigation); Kristopher Hanc (Capital Markets); Thomas Bauer and Philip Ward (Tax); and Preet K. Gill (Complex Legal Issues and Opinions).

Introduction

On March 25, 2022, the Alberta Court of Appeal issued its decision in PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc v Perpetual Energy Inc, 2022 ABCA 111. Briefly, the Court held that abandonment and reclamation obligations (ARO) of oil and gas assets operate to depress the value of those assets for the purposes of fraudulent preferences legislation, notwithstanding that they are not provable claims in bankruptcy. The Court also held that serial summary dismissal applications on different grounds are an abuse of process.