The Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (ABCA) received an overhaul this week. Bill 84, Business Corporations Amendment Act, 2021 came into force on May 31, 2022. That Bill introduced several changes to the ABCA. These amendments are intended to modernize Alberta's corporate legislation to attract investment and make Alberta the leading province for corporations in Canada.

This overview is intended as an introductory summary to the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Canada’s principal statute for the reorganization of a large insolvency corporation. The CCAA applies in every province and territory of Canada, and even purports to have worldwide jurisdiction.

Last November, in In re LTL Mgmt. LLC, 1 Bankruptcy Judge Craig Whitley in Charlotte, North Carolina, ordered LTL Management LLC’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case moved to New Jersey after finding that LTL Management had used the “Texas Two-Step” to manufacture jurisdiction in North Carolina improperly. LTL Management is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (“J&J”) and a defendant in thousands of talc-related tort claim lawsuits.

In In re Purdue Pharma, L.P., 1 U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York vacated Purdue Pharma’s confirmed plan of reorganization after finding that the bankruptcy court below did not have statutory authority to issue a confirmation order granting non-consensual third-party releases—namely for the benefit of the Sackler family, which owns Purdue.

En 2021, plusieurs décisions judiciaires d’importance pour les prêteurs commerciaux, les entreprises et les professionnels de l’insolvabilité ont été rendues d’un bout à l’autre du Canada.

In 2021, several significant judicial decisions were rendered across Canada relevant to commercial lenders, businesses and restructuring professionals. This comprehensive report summarizes the key facts and core issues of importance in each case and provides status updates on the cases reported on in our February 2021 bulletin, Key Developments in Canadian Insolvency Case Law in 2020.

A bankruptcy court gave "unnecessary and likely incorrect" reasoning to support its "excessively broad proposition that sales free and clear under [Bankruptcy Code ("Code")] Section 363 override, and essentially render nugatory, the critical lessee protections against a debtor-lessor under [Code] 365(h)," said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Feb. 16, 2022. In re Royal Bistro, LLC, 2022 WL 499938, *1-*2 (5th Cir. Feb. 16, 2022).

“Good-faith purchasers enjoy strong protection under [Bankruptcy Code (“Code”)] § 363(m),” but the silent asset buyer (“B”) with “actual and constructive knowledge of a competing interest” lacks “good faith,” held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on April 4, 2022. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (“ADM”) v. Country Visions Cooperative, 2022 WL 998984 (7th Cir. Apr. 4, 2022).

“Retail apocalypse” was the phrase coined to describe the anticipated demise of the brick-and-mortar retail store in the face of the unparalleled convenience of online shopping and other electronic commerce. Over the past decade, in response to the challenges faced by the changing retail landscape, many shopping centres tried to “e-proof” their properties by emphasizing in-person experiences that can be provided through salons, arcades, movie theatres and restaurants.

A bankruptcy court gave “unnecessary and unlikely incorrect” reasoning to support its “excessively broad proposition that sales free and clear under [Bankruptcy Code (“Code”)] Section 363 override, and essentially render nugatory, the critical lessee protections against a debtor-lessor under [Code] 365(h),” said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Feb. 16, 2022. In re Royal Bistro, LLC, 2022 WL 499938, *1-*2 (5th Cir. Feb. 16, 2022).