The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) recently released its much-anticipated decision in the Indalex Limited (“Indalex”) proceedings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (the “CCAA Proceedings”). The decision is important for secured lenders in the context of an insolvency proceeding (“DIP Lenders”) or outside of an insolvency proceeding (“secured lenders”).
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision in the landmark pension/insolvency case, Sun Indalex, LLC v. United Steelworkers.
In a corporate system based in part on the separation of ownership and control, the relationship between principals and agents is riddled with agency problems: Among them are potential conflicts of interest where agents may abuse their fiduciary position for their own benefit as opposed to the benefit of the principals to whom they are obligated. Delineating the agents' fiduciary duties is thus a central focus of corporate law, and the dereliction of those duties often comes under scrutiny in the bankruptcy context.
The Department of Justice is changing its method of providing public notice for civil and administrative forfeitures. The Government has traditionally published forfeiture notices in newspapers. Instead, the Government will now post generalized notices at www.forfeiture.gov.
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) in 9-Ball Interests Inc v Traditional Life Sciences considered the evidence required from applicants seeking the appointment of a receiver and the approval of a 'quick-flip' sale of a debtor company's assets in circumstances where the debtor, secured party and proposed purchaser are related parties.
The Government must provide actual notice of forfeiture proceedings to those the Government knows have claimed an interest in property to be forfeited. In a fact pattern the Sixth Circuit characterized as "befitting a John Grisham novel," the Government dug up (literally) a fraudster’s $250,000 on a golf course. The Government found the money in October 2009 and instituted forfeiture proceedings. In November and December 2009, the Government posted a generalized notice of forfeiture on the internet.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) filed an objection on June 14, 2012, in the Delaware bankruptcy court proceedings of RG Steel ("Debtor"), challenging a recent sale by RG Steel's parent entity ("Parent") of a 25-percent ownership stake in the Debtor. If the sale is respected, Parent would fall outside of the Debtor's "controlled group" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), with the result that Parent may cease to have joint liability for the Debtor's unfunded pension obligations.