En raison de l'impact sans précédent de la pandémie de la COVID-19 ainsi que des mesures de confinement afférentes sur l'économie canadienne et la vie des citoyens canadiens, les législatures et les tribunaux accordent des assouplissements importants aux entreprises et aux particuliers, notamment eu égard à :
certains délais de dépôt et de paiement, notamment pour les déclarations d'impôt, les paiements et remises ainsi que les dépôts en matière de propriété intellectuelle; et
As a result of the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures on the Canadian economy and the lives of Canadian citizens, the legislatures and courts have granted wide-ranging relief for businesses and individuals from, among other things:
certain filing and payment deadlines such as for tax filings, payments and remittances and intellectual property filings; and
Jamais dans l’histoire les entreprises de toutes tailles et de pratiquement toutes les industries n’ont affronté une crise résultant à la fois d’un tarissement des sources d’approvisionnement et de la demande de façon simultanée. La crise de liquidités qui en découle engendre une insécurité omniprésente au sein des gestionnaires des entreprises et de l’ensemble des parties intéressées de celles-ci, incluant leurs employés, actionnaires, clients, fournisseurs, créanciers et les communautés dans lesquelles les entreprises opèrent.
Never before in history have businesses of all sizes and of all or almost all industries faced a crisis resulting from a simultaneous decline of supply and demand. The resulting liquidity crisis is creating pervasive insecurity among the managers of businesses and the stakeholders of those businesses, including their employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, creditors and the communities in which the businesses operate.
Dans l’affaire de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies relative à Nemaska Lithium, la Cour supérieure du Québec rend une décision intéressante en ce qui concerne la possibilité pour une débitrice de résilier des contrats auxquels elle est partie et sur son obligation, le cas échéant, de payer à son cocontractant les frais qu’il doit encourir pour reprendre possession de biens loués.
In the matter of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act of Nemaska Lithium, the Québec Superior Court rendered an interesting decision regarding the possibility for a debtor to disclaim agreements and its obligation, if any, to pay its counterparty the costs it must incur to repossess leased property.
Background: Nemaska Lithium disclaims a housing modules rental agreement
As governments impose restrictions on travel and more and more people are self-isolating and taking steps towards social distancing, the entire travel industry, the live entertainment industry and businesses with bricks and mortar presences, like restaurants and retail stores, expect to experience an immediate drop in revenue.
THE ISSUE
In a recent judgment, i.e., on 17 January 2020, the Indian appellate insolvency tribunal, namely, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) held in M. Ravindranath Reddy v. G. Kishan, that the lease of immovable property cannot be considered as supply of goods or rendering any services and therefore the due amount cannot fall within the definition of operational debt under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code).
In the winter of 2015, the Indian Legislature sought to tackle the persistent problem of bad debts affecting Indian financial institutions and trade creditors by enacting the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“Code”), which was finally notified in May 2016. The key purpose of the enactment was to consolidate and amend the laws relating to reorganization and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time bound manner for maximization of value of assets of such persons / entities.
2019 was a busy year for corporate restructuring practitioners in Canada. The year saw an uptick in CCAA filings nationwide, with 38 total proceedings (up from the total of 21 filings in 2018). The Canadian restructuring landscape also some significant shake-ups, with important decisions and extensive legislative changes. The highlights are summarized below:
BIA & CCAA Amended