During her lifetime, Vickie Lynn Marshall, publicly known as Anna Nicole Smith (“Vickie”), was hardly a stranger to the prying eyes of the media. Today, the late Vickie is again the subject of media coverage, this time in the context of a fifteen-year legal saga that has twice reached the United States Supreme Court.

Are the directors of a corporation which has been placed into receivership entitled to retain counsel on behalf of the corporation without prior approval of the Receiver or the court?

According to a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the answer is “Yes”.

Adananc

On February 28, 2011, Adanac Molybdenum Corporation announced that it successfully implemented its plan of compromise and arrangement and emerged from CCAA protection. It was announced that, on implementation, Adanac’s outstanding common shares were consolidated on a 150 to 1 basis with 24,698,888 post-consolidation common shares issued to creditors.

Adanac owns the Ruby Creek Project, located in northwest British Columbia.

Ambrilia Biopharma

A recently proposed rule by the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would systemically impose significant bank holding companies and nonbank financial companies to submit annual resolution plans and quarterly credit exposure reports.

The leading international insolvency practitioners and thought leaders in the world will convene for the 11th Annual Conference of the International Insolvency Institute at Columbia University in New York on June 13-14, 2011. The Conference will feature reports and analyses of the world’s most important current international insolvency issues and controversies described by speakers who are recognized globally as preeminent in their field.

INTRODUCTION

As international trade grows, financial institutions and manufacturers of equipment recognize that international sales or globalization of their business is a requirement to staying competitive.

When a company saddled with potential environmental liabilities seeks bankruptcy protection, the goals of Chapter 11—giving the reorganized debtor a “fresh start” and fairly treating similarly situated creditors—can conflict with the goals of environmental laws, such as ensuring that the “polluter pays.” Courts have long struggled to reconcile this tension.

May a deceased person who dies in bankruptcy having failed to complete his duties under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act be discharged from bankruptcy?

This was the question that the British Columbia Supreme Court wrestled with earlier this year in a reported decision that began by noting that there was no jurisdiction on point.

Re Gyro-Trac (USA) Inc. (“Gyro-Trac””) is the first appellate decision to consider the centre of main interests (COMI) of a corporate group. In that case, the Quebec Court Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision to recognize proceedings under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Chapter 11”) and to stay Canadian bankruptcy proceedings against Canadian members of a corporate group.

Pursuant to section 38 of theBankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (the “BIA”) a creditor of the bankrupt estate can obtain the trustee’s right to pursue estate litigation where the trustee refuses or fails to pursue such litigation. In a recent Ontario case, Indcondo Building Corp. v. Sloan [2010], CarswellOnt 9785, the Court of Appeal was asked to determine whether the limitation period for the assigned litigation commences with the trustee’s knowledge of the facts giving rise to the claim or the assignee’s knowledge of those facts.