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 deze blog signaleren wij kort enkele belangwekkende bestuursrechtelijke en omgevingsrechtelijke uitspraken van de afgelopen periode.
Hoge Raad: regeling proceskostenvergoeding voor fiscale bezwaarprocedures mogelijk in strijd met discriminatieverbod (art. 1 Grondwet)
Financial restructurings are becoming increasingly common in the current financial climate, also in the Netherlands. Since the implementation of the Dutch scheme of arrangement on 1 January 2021, a relatively new tool to restructure debts of Dutch corporate entities in order to prevent their insolvency is available in the Netherlands. Under the Dutch scheme of arrangement, a creditors composition is binding on all creditors if a sufficient number of (classes of) creditors vote in favour of the scheme. In principle, the preferential order of priority for secured creditors, e.g.
On April 3, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (comprised of Federal Courts in Alabama, Florida and Georgia), affirmed the decision of the District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Al Zawawi v. Diss (In re Al Zawawi). The Court held that eligibility requirements for a “debtor” contained in section 109(a) of the Bankruptcy Code do not apply to foreign recognition proceedings under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The Dutch Supreme Court handed down a judgment (ECLI:NL:HR:2023:1751) on 15 December 2023 clarifying whether agreements entered into by a bankruptcy trustee with the approval of the supervisory judge can be affected by an application under Article 69 of the Dutch Bankruptcy Act (DBA).
De Tijdelijke wet transparantie turboliquidatie (“TWTT”) omvat de tijdelijke aanpassing van de wettelijke regeling omtrent turboliquidatie in Boek 2 BW en is gefaseerd in werking getreden op 15 november 2023. De maatregelen die zijn opgenomen in de TWTT zijn van tijdelijke aard en gelden in beginsel voor een periode van twee jaar na de inwerkingtreding, te weten tot 15 november 2025.
#1: Artificial Intelligence
The impact of artificial intelligence on the legal profession was a hot topic in 2023, with the English judiciary receiving guidance on the use of the technology. Debate on the role and regulation of AI is likely to continue throughout 2024, particularly as more specific applications are developed and demonstrated.
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
On 25 August 2023, in ECLI:NL:HR:2023:1135, the Supreme Court answered three legal questions relevant to the practice of setoff before and during bankruptcy or a suspension of payments. In this blog, we address the Supreme Court's decisions and consider the implications for legal practice.
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.