The highest profile duty to consult case this past year was the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Coldwater First Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 FCA 34, relating to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project (TMX Project). This was a judicial review of the federal Cabinet’s decision to approve the TMX Project for the second time subject to numerous conditions. The TMX Project involves the twinning and expansion of an existing pipeline from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia.

Prior to December 23, 2020, it had been unclear whether a court had the jurisdiction to grant an order assigning a contract without counterparty consent, on application by a court-appointed receiver (a “Receiver”).

In a year quite unlike any other, the landscape of Canadian restructuring law saw significant developments in 2020. The COVID-19 crisis put novel issues before the courts, challenged businesses in unforeseen ways and saw various supports and concessions offered to struggling businesses from governments and creditors. Ultimately, while the supports and concessions enabled many businesses to avoid insolvency proceedings in 2020, many others sought the protection of an insolvency filing, with industries such as the retail industry particularly impacted.

The Ontario Court of Appeal, in 7636156 Canada Inc. (Re), 2020 ONCA 681 (“7636156”), recently affirmed the autonomy of documentary letters of credit as valid security for the obligations of a tenant under a commercial lease when that lease is disclaimed by the tenant or the tenant’s trustee in bankruptcy.

El Auto del Juzgado de lo Mercantil nº10 de Barcelona, del pasado 29 de julio, ha permitido el nombramiento de un administrador antes del concurso para facilitar la venta de la unidad productiva antes de la declaración de concurso. Con ello, se ha permitido una medida equivalente al “pre-pack” anglosajón, favoreciendo una liquidación más eficiente y evitando incrementar el pasivo de la concursada.

Dans l’affaire de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (la « Lacc ») relative à Groupe Dynamite, le juge Kalichman de la Cour supérieure du Québec prononce un jugement au sujet de l’obligation d’un débiteur de payer un loyer post-dépôt dans un contexte où il ne peut pas utiliser les lieux loués.

In the matter of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”) of the S.M. Group, the Québec Court of Appeal rendered a ruling on the effect of the law of set-off on debts arising out of alleged fraud and the application of the same Court’s ruling in Kitco to this type of debts.

La jurisprudencia de la Sala de lo Civil del TS avala, con ciertos límites, las cláusulas de los convenios de acreedores en las que se prevé la pérdida del crédito de los acreedores que no comuniquen en un plazo determinado su número de cuenta bancaria. Una reciente sentencia de 2019 ha matizado el alcance tradicional de esta doctrina.

In the matter of Aquadis, the Quebec Court of Appeal recently rendered a decision on the power of a judge supervising restructuring proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") to approve a plan of arrangement giving the monitor the power to exercise rights against third parties on

Dans l’affaire d’Aquadis, la Cour d’appel du Québec rend un arrêt sur la possibilité pour un juge supervisant des procédures de restructuration en vertu de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (« LACC ») d'approuver un plan d'arrangement accordant au contrôleur le pouvoir d'exer