Caisse populaire Desjardins de l’Est de Drummond v. Canada, 2009 SCC 29 (Can LII) (S.C.C.); on appeal from 2006 FCA 366 (Can LII)

The Caisse granted Camvrac a line of credit of up to $297,000. Camvrac deposited $200,000 with the Caisse subject to a “Security Given Through Savings” agreement (the “Savings Agreement”) and agreed:

(i) to have the $200,000 on deposit as long as the line of credit was outstanding; and

Re Ted LeRoy Trucking Ltd. and 383838 B.C. Ltd. (2009), 52 C.B.R. (5th) 225, 2009 BCSC 41 (B.C.S.C.)

Ted LeRoy Trucking Ltd. obtained protection under the CCAA and PriceWaterhouseCooper was its monitor. The debtor tried to restructure and failed, and was assigned into bankruptcy with PriceWaterhouseCooper as its trustee.

National Leasing Group Inc. v. Raymond Veterinary Clinic Ltd., [2009] A.W.L.D. 2017, 2009 ABQB 219 (Alta. Q.B.)

The Lessor leased specialized medical equipment to the corporation and three individuals as lessees. The veterinary clinic failed and closed its doors.

TD Bank v. Dunn-Rite Cattle Corp. [2009] A.W.L.D. 2075; 2009 ABQB 227 (Alta. Q.B.), on hearing of issue from (2006) 26 C.B.R. (5th) 1 (Alta. C.A.)

The master granted TD priority to the subject cattle ahead of the Dunns’ lien pursuant to the since repealed Livery Stable Keepers Act. The Dunns appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal, which allowed the appeal and because of sparse evidence, directed the matter of priority be heard by the Court of Queen’s Bench.

The Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has issued a decision concluding that company-paid medical coverage offered as part of an employee severance package is a “retiree benefit” that cannot be unilaterally modified by the company in bankruptcy, except as provided under Section 1114 of the Bankruptcy Code.

If you are interested in submitting a bid to buy assets from a Court appointed receiver in Ontario and there is a Court approved sales process, then it is important to submit your bid as part of that Court approved sales process. A bid tendered outside the sales process time line and procedure (even if it turns out to be the highest bid) will generally end up being a losing bid.

Often, when creditors start to take action against a debtor, the debtor will seek relief through the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act(i). Some Trustees in bankruptcy even advertise that the bankruptcy process can be an important step on the road to “financial well being”. Creditors, upon receiving notice of their Debtor’s bankruptcy, may feel that the chance of any recovery all but disappears with the assignment into bankruptcy.

The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that an environmental clean-up obligation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, even when the debtor no longer has any internal clean-up operations and would have to contract a third party to provide such services at significant cost.

On August 11, 2009, Judge Gropper of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York denied motions to dismiss bankruptcy petitions of several special-purpose entity subsidiaries (SPEs) of General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) that were solvent, financially healthy companies structured to be remote from the bankruptcy risks of GGP and its other affiliates.

No doubt by now, every creditor knows of the new protections given to employees in the face of a company’s insolvency as a result of the enactment of the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (“WEPPA”) and related amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) on July 7, 2008.