Introduction
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Code) provides the right to a financial creditor to make an application to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against a corporate debtor in the event the debtor fails to repay its debt owed to the creditor. The Code as well as precedents developed by insolvency courts have consistently held that the test for admission of an insolvency application of a financial creditor is twofold, existence of a debt and default on that debt.
Insolvency legislation is full of trade-offs—chief among them is expediency versus fairness. On the one hand, insolvencies are often urgent matters with the fate of the debtor’s business or the value of its assets resting on a speedy and efficient resolution of its creditors’ claims. On the other hand, those creditors expect to be treated fairly and receive a real opportunity to advance and resolve their claims, which often entails a slow, deliberate process.
Introduction
With the recent flurry of reverse vesting orders (RVOs) in Canadian insolvency proceedings in the last two years, courts have warned against over-use of this distressed M&A structure. In PaySlate Inc. (Re), 2023 BCSC 608, the Supreme Court of British Columbia hit reverse.
Introduction
Introduction
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was closed by its California state regulators on Friday, March 10, 2023, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed as receiver. As the market absorbed these developments, customers of SVB and other regional banks rushed to protect their deposits over the weekend, resulting in the closure of Signature Bank in New York, and the announcement on Sunday that all deposits at SVB and SB were moved to newly formed bridge banks.
What you need to know:
Where an individual is both a corporate director and a shareholder, can they be held personally liable for stripping value from a corporation to defeat corporate creditors? “Yes”, according to the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s recent decision in FNF Enterprises Inc. v. Wag and Train Inc, 2023 ONCA 92. But what is the legal basis for imposing personal liability for the corporation’s obligations?