On July 31, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Poonian v. British Columbia (Securities Commission), on whether financial sanctions imposed by securities regulators are dischargeable through bankruptcy. The decision resolves a conflict between Alberta and B.C. jurisprudence and will have a significant impact on the treatment of all administrative orders in bankruptcy proceedings.
The facts
In Tynefield Care Ltd (and others) v the New India Assurance Company Ltd1 the indemnity claims of the insured Claimant companies were dismissed, and policies avoided from inception for breach of the duty of fair presentation under the Insurance Act 2015. The breach related to the insolvency history of one of the de facto or shadow directors of the Claimant companies.
This judgment therefore adds to the post-2015 Act case law considering breach of the duty of fair presentation.
Section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) provides a flexible tool that allows corporations to achieve important change and undertake various corporate transactions, subject to court approval and oversight. This article aims to provide an update on the Québec courts’ acceptance of virtual securityholder meetings and approach to the solvency requirement.
Overview of the arrangement process
HFW DISPUTES DIGEST 2023
Welcome to the second annual Disputes Digest, in which we collate our 2023 global HFW LITIGATION and International Arbitration publications in one place.
This edition includes updates from across our Disputes arena, including England and Wales, BVI, AsiaPac, and the Middle East.
Employee terminations and downsizing are features of most restructurings. While employees can typically assert a claim in the insolvency process, parallel claims and complaints with labour relations regulators and tribunals are relatively common. In a recent judgment, the Superior Court of Québec clarified that all employee claims can be extinguished through a plan of arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), including those filed before regulators and tribunals.
COMMODITIES CASE UPDATE JULY 2023 HFW COMMODITIES CASE UPDATE JULY 2023 We are delighted to present the July 2023 edition of the Commodities Case Update, with a summary of 12 key recent cases relevant to the commodities sector. With a market leading commodities team, we have over 100 lawyers who provide a full service internationally. The group is led by a team of over 25 partners, who are based in all our offices around the world, including in the major trading hubs of London, Paris, Geneva, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney.
COMMERCIAL | JANUARY 2023 BANKRUPTCY IN THE UAE PART 2: DIRECTORS’ DUTIES 1. Introduction One of the most common ways of conducting business within the UAE is through an onshore limited liability company. Commercial companies incorporated onshore in the UAE have a separate legal personality.1 The company can enter into legally binding agreements in its own name and take on valid and binding obligations.
One of the most common ways of conducting business within the UAE is through an onshore limited liability company. Commercial companies incorporated onshore in the UAE have a separate legal personality.1 The company can enter into legally binding agreements in its own name and take on valid and binding obligations. Actions of the directors of a company, on behalf of such a company, generally bind the company.2 Generally, any liabilities resulting from those actions are for the account of the company, rather than for the account of the individual directors in their personal capacity.
HFW DISPUTES DIGEST 2022 Welcome to our first annual digest, in which we collate our 2022 global HFW LITIGATION and International Arbitration publications in one place. This edition includes updates from the whole Disputes arena across England, AsiaPac, and the Middle East. HFW is one of the world’s largest and most active disputes practices, litigation is in our DNA. We have more than 350 specialist disputes lawyers in offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and AsiaPac.
Since we last discussed the then-novel restructuring mechanism known as the reverse vesting order (RVO) in 2020, insolvency professionals have been seeking, and courts have been approving, this facilitative remedy with greater frequency.