The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has made what is understood to be the first Remediation Contribution Order under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) in connection with the remediation of building safety defects at a high-rise residential block at 9 Sutton Court Road, in London.
In the case of Bankruptcy Hanson, 2022 ONSC 6591,[1] the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dealt with access to insurance proceeds in the case of a bankrupt professional. The key questions to be decided by the Court were:
- Companies Seek More Liquidity – As access to capital may decrease in the coming year, companies on the periphery of needing more operations income are reaching out to lenders to capture the full amount of capital they can borrow currently.
- Correction in Valuations of Companies Without Apparent Underlying Assets – Investors are scrutinizing the valuations of companies more closely, particularly those whose probability of success is tied to nascent products or services.
- Operations Right-Sizing is Underway – Companies are
Summary of Key Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Amendments
Are customers’ digital assets held by exchange platforms in so-called “Custodial” and “Withhold” accounts property of the bankruptcy estate? This may be coined the golden question in the recent crypto bankruptcy chronicles, and at a status conference held Oct. 7, 2022, Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn of the Southern District of New York scheduled Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 as tentative dates to hear oral arguments on the issue.
In life (as in business), as Heraclitus said, “the only constant is change.” In today’s fast-paced economy, this axiom should be kept in mind during contract negotiations, especially in a bear market.
Bankruptcy & restructuring
The economies of the United States (U.S.) and Canada are closely intertwined. As operations expand across the border, so too do the complexities associated with carrying on business - particularly the insolvency of a company spanning both jurisdictions. As such, understanding how to navigate the complexities of Canadian insolvency regimes is essential to successfully doing business in the country.
1. Legislation and court system
On 5 October 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others. This is the first time that the Supreme Court has addressed the questions of whether there is a duty owed to creditor where a company may be at risk of insolvency, and the point at which that duty is triggered.
It is common for construction project owners to finance projects through multiple mortgages, especially in times of rising construction costs. However, when an insolvency situation arises, holdback priority claims from contractors and subcontractors are particularly complex when there are multiple building mortgages involved. The Ontario Superior Court (Commercial List) provided new clarity in this regard in its April 29, 2022 decision in BCIMC Construction Fund Corp. et al.