On November 1, 2019, certain amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) will come into force and have potentially far-reaching implications on the way in which restructuring and liquidation proceedings under those statutes are conducted.
As described in further detail below, the amendments:
On August 29, 2019, the Alberta Court of Appeal released its decision in Canada v. Canada North Group Inc. The majority – Justice P. Rowbotham and Justice F.
The U.S. Supreme Court held today in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC that a trademark licensee may retain certain rights under a trademark licensing agreement even if the licensor enters bankruptcy and rejects the licensing agreement at issue. Relying on the language of section 365(g) of the Bankruptcy Code, the Supreme Court emphasized that a debtor’s rejection of an executory contract has the “same effect as a breach of that contract outside bankruptcy” and that rejection “cannot rescind rights that the contract previously granted.”
In a recent decision arising out of the Republic Airways bankruptcy, Judge Sean Lane of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that the liquidated damages provisions of certain aircraft leases were improper penalties and, thus, “unenforceable as against public policy” under Article 2A the New York Uniform Commercial Code. In re Republic Airways Holdings Inc., 2019 WL 630336 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Feb. 14, 2019).
On February 8, 2019, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, affirmed a Bankruptcy Court order enjoining a claimant from pursuing claims against a debtor’s non-debtor affiliates based upon third-party release and injunction provisions included in the debtor’s confirmed chapter 11 plan. In re CJ Holding Co., 2019 WL 497728 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 8, 2019).
On February 12, 2019, the Court of Appeal of Alberta (Court) released its long-anticipated decision in Northern Sunrise County v. Virginia Hills Oil Corp. (Virginia Hills).
On February 4, 2019, the Quebec Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) ruled in the restructuring proceedings of Bluberi Gaming Technologies Inc., now 9354‑9186 Québec Inc., et al. (Bluberi) that under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (CCAA), creditors have a right to vote in their own self-interest. In so doing, the Court of Appeal reversed the lower court’s decision.
On January 31, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its decision in Orphan Well Association, et. al. v. Grant Thornton Limited, et. al. – a case commonly known as Redwater.
In 2018, several insolvency cases were litigated that will be of interest to commercial lenders in restructuring and insolvency proceedings. This article summarizes the core issues of importance to lenders in each of these cases. Status updates on the cases reported in our 2017 roundup of key developments in Canadian insolvency case law are included at the end of this article.
May 25, 2018
PRIORITY OF HST DEEMED TRUSTS
Canada v.Toronto-Dominion Bank
Bankruptcy partner Brian Hermann and counsel Lauren Shumejda co-authored the chapter, “U.S.: New Strategies for Getting Paid: Recent Investment Fund Activity in Chapter 11,” in the 2019 edition of the Global Restructuring Review (GRR) Special Report, “The Restructuring Review of the Americas.”