Following the recent surge in wholesale energy prices, we are seeing increasing numbers of energy supplier insolvency in the news and customers are finding themselves transferred to new providers.

In the matter of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (the “CCAA”) of Bloom Lake, the Superior Court of Québec rendered a judgment regarding the expansion of the powers of the monitor in a context where a creditor refused to produce documentation requested by the debtors.

Dans le cadre de l’affaire Bloom Lake relative à la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (la « Lacc »), la Cour supérieure du Québec prononce un jugement au sujet de l'élargissement des pouvoirs du contrôleur dans un contexte où un créancier refusait de produire la documentation demandée par les débitrices.

Regulations have been published which, from 1 October 2021, will change the current restrictions on the use of winding up petitions (the regulations). A link to the regulations can be found here.

In summary, the regulations partially lift the temporary restriction on the use of winding up petitions imposed by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and provide that:

Insolvency proceedings are typically launched by an administrator or liquidator during an insolvency process. The nature of modern insolvency litigation, including the market for assigning causes of action to third parties, has somewhat muddied the waters on how and where to commence proceedings. Two recent cases provide some valuable insight into the High Court’s approach.

The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has released its decision in Canada North, conclusively resolving the priority dispute between deemed trusts created under the federal “fiscal statutes” (being the Income Tax Act (the “ITA”), the

Rogue directors will find themselves in the firing line if and when The Rating (COVID-19) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament, comes into force. The proposed bill will enable the investigation and potential disqualification of directors of dissolved companies, and responds in particular to concerns around COVID-related fraud.

Background

On June 17, 2021, McCarthy Tétrault virtually hosted A Panel Discussion about the CCAA with Partners Heather Meredith, Jacques Rousse, and Awanish Sinha. The discussion focused on the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA”), reasons why organizations use the CCAA, and particular insights about the Laurentian University CCAA proceeding.

The following are some key takeaways from the panel:

The past week has been frustrating for landlords, with the High Court rejecting a landlord challenge to New Look’s CVA (Lazari Properties 2 Ltd and others v New Look Retailers Ltd and others [2021] EWHC 1209 (Ch)) and days later sanctioning Virgin Active’s restructuring plan (Re Virgin Active Holdings Ltd and others [2021] EWHC 1246 (Ch)).

The government has recently announced plans to extend the moratorium on evictions for non-payment of commercial rent - first introduced in March 2020 under the Coronavirus Act 2020 - to 25 March 2022. At the same time it has introduced legislation to extend the restrictions on statutory demands and winding-up petitions under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) to 30 September 2021.