Call it a sign of the times: the past decade has produced the ten largest bankruptcies in the United States.

Based on disclosed assets in its recent bankruptcy filing, MF Global has taken the spot just ahead of Chrysler as the eighth-largest United States bankruptcy (as ranked by New Generation Research on the basis of pre-petition assets).

The Top Ten list¹ is presented below, with a brief commentary on the circumstances of bankruptcies, each of which has significantly impacted the United States and global economies.

Norgate Metals, a Québec-based company specializing in the engineering, manufacturing and installation of steel-based metal products, has received court protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to continue operations and develop a restructuring plan.

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear an appeal of the unanimous decision rendered last April by the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) in Re Indalex Limited (Indalex). According to many commentators, the Indalex case turns accepted law on the priority of debtor in possession (DIP) and working capital security on its head and introduces new concerns for employers about how to properly discharge their sometimes conflicting duties under corporate law and under pension law.

What happens when Canadian entities are part of a corporate group with international operations that seeks to restructure? A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Re Massachusetts Elephant & Castle Group, Inc. provides guidance on how Canadian courts will consider recognition of foreign restructuring proceedings.

What role does business common sense play in the interpretation of commercial contracts? This issue was recently addressed by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in Rainy Sky S.A. v. Kookmin Bank. The answer: “where a term of a contract is open to more than one interpretation, it is generally appropriate to adopt the interpretation which is most consistent with business common sense”. Since there is currently some uncertainty in Canada on the point, Rainy Sky is an important case to consider.

Decision

The Canadian Investor Protection Fund, the investment industry’s customer compensation agency, has obtained a bankruptcy order in the Ontario Superior Court against MF Global Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of MF Global Holdings which sought Chapter 11 protection in New York last week. KPMG Inc. has been appointed as trustee in bankruptcy for MF Global Canada.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, whose dealer members support the CIPF, had previously obtained an order requiring MF Global Canada to cease dealings with the public.

Sunrise, sunset. Perhaps a matchmaker would have helped. The saga of the dispute between Ventas, Inc. and Health Care Property Investors, Inc. arose five years ago when Sunrise Senior Living Real Estate Investment Trust’s "board of trustees determined that a strategic sale process of its assets would be beneficial to its unitholders, thus effectively putting Sunrise ‘in play’ on the public markets" (per Blair J.A. for the Ontario Court of Appeal) in Ventas, Inc. v.

A recent Alberta appellate decision establishes that a trustee in bankruptcy may sell a franchise agreement to a third party, in spite of objections by the franchisor, under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). The Alberta Court of Appeal’s decision in Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd v Welcome Ford Sales Ltd contains three important messages for franchisors:

Are the directors of a corporation which has been placed into receivership entitled to retain counsel on behalf of the corporation without prior approval of the Receiver or the court?

According to a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the answer is “Yes”.

Adananc

On February 28, 2011, Adanac Molybdenum Corporation announced that it successfully implemented its plan of compromise and arrangement and emerged from CCAA protection. It was announced that, on implementation, Adanac’s outstanding common shares were consolidated on a 150 to 1 basis with 24,698,888 post-consolidation common shares issued to creditors.

Adanac owns the Ruby Creek Project, located in northwest British Columbia.

Ambrilia Biopharma