In Essar Steel Algoma Inc. (Re), Justice David Brown of the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the ambit of orders “made under” the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-36 (the “CCAA”), and thus requiring leave to be appealed, is broad. Though concluding that the appellant in this case required leave to appeal, he nonetheless ordered the leave motion be expedited.
Law360, New York (June 30, 2016, 1:20 PM ET) -- After four hearings and one markup at the House Committee on Natural Resources, and countless hours of public and behind-the-scenes debate by the legislators, the House of Representatives passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) on June 9, 2016. Then, on June 29, 2016, the Senate agreed to the House bill, sending the bill to the president for his expected signature.
In a June 10 letter to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, the IRS said it plans to notify individuals whose assets were seized because of suspected financial structuring abuses as far back as October 2009 that they may be able to recover their assets from the govern
In his decision in Global Royalties Limited v. Brook, Chief Justice Strathy of the Ontario Court of Appeal explained that the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) does not provide a bankrupt with a right to appeal an order lifting a stay of proceedings against him. Despite there being a multi-party bankruptcy, he rejected the submission that “the order or decision is likely to affect other cases of a similar nature in the bankruptcy proceedings”.
Introduction
Law360, New York (May 5, 2016, 12:02 PM ET) -- A core principle of bankruptcy tax litigation holds that “bankruptcy courts have universally recognized their jurisdiction to consider tax issues brought by the debtor, limited only by their discretion to abstain.” IRS v. Luongo, 259 F.3d 323, 329-330 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing In re Hunt, 95 B.R. 442, 445 (Bankr. N.D. Tex. 1989). The Second Circuit recently departed from that generally accepted principle in United States v. Bond, 762 F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 2014).
In Walchuk Estate v. Houghton, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed a motion to quash an appeal on the basis that the lower court’s adjournment of a contempt motion was a final order. The decision also provides guidance, yet again, on the proper test for distinguishing between final and interlocutory orders.
Background
The crash in oil prices has reverberated throughout the industry and is widely expected to lead to a wave of bankruptcies among oil and gas producers (particularly the small to midsize companies that have played a major role in the boom in shale production in North America). Less well recognized, until recently, is the prospect that these producer bankruptcies may soon affect oil pipeline companies that built new infrastructure, relying on long-term ship-or-pay contracts with the producers.
The media have been paying considerable attention to the current financial distress of the energy industry in Alberta, focusing primarily on the impact a company’s financial condition can have on its stakeholders, including its employees, shareholders and creditors. But there is another group that is also being affected: counterparties to commercial arrangements with insolvent companies. Increasingly, financially strong companies are having to deal with insolvent joint venture partners, financially distressed operators, and bankrupt lessees.
In a proceeding under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”), a judge has discretionary powers to, among other things, order debtor companies into bankruptcy and thereby resolve priority disputes. What should be the standard of review of such discretionary decisions? Historically, the standard has been high.