Profits made by a limited company are distributed to shareholders through the declaration of dividends. Quite often, for example in the case of SME businesses, the directors and shareholders of the company are one and the same. In such businesses, directors might take a minimum salary and pay the rest of their remuneration by way of dividend. For some time, this has been a tax-efficient means for directors to be remunerated.
However, before a company is able to pay a dividend, two main criteria must be met:
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED
38144 Ronald Baldovi v. Her Majesty the Queen
(Man.)
Courts – Judges – Reasonable apprehension of bias
2018 was the "year of the CVA", slashing rents and forcing landlords to get to grips with long-winded CVA proposal documents in an attempt to allow struggling tenants to manage their debts, turn around their businesses and avoid terminal insolvency situations.
The unfortunate reality is that even if they are approved by landlords and other creditors, not all these CVAs will be successful and many tenants are likely to end up in administration.
Creditor not obliged to take steps in foreign proceedings to preserve security
Bankruptcy & restructuring
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED
37997 St. James No.1 Inc. v. Ed Vanderwindt, Chief Building Official and City of Hamilton (Ont.)
Municipal law – Heritage properties – Demolition or removal of structure
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL DISMISSED
37906 Michel Guay v. Ville de Brownsburg-Chatham, Municipalité Régionale de Comté d’Argenteuil, Josée Davidson (Que.)
Contracts – Formation – Municipal law
No duty of care owed for negligent bank reference to undisclosed principal
The Supreme Court has held that a bank which negligently provided a favourable credit reference for one of its customers did not owe a duty of care to an undisclosed principal who acted on that reference.
There has been a series of high profile tenant company voluntary arrangements (CVAs), particularly in the retail and casual dining sectors. Many landlords have been hit by closure of underperforming stores, and by rent cuts on those remaining open. Here we outline ten points for landlords on what CVAs are, how they are entered into and what landlords can do to protect themselves.
What is a CVA?
A CVA is a statutory process, supervised by an insolvency practitioner. It allows a company in financial difficulty to:
Are you a company director? If so, are you fully aware of your responsibilities and duties to your company? It is common for directors to be completely uninformed of the full extent of their duties, sometimes holding the belief that they can essentially do what they like – particularly if they are also a sole shareholder, which is often the case with SMEs.
What are directors’ duties?