Oilsands Quest Inc. (AMEX: BQI) has been granted protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act until December 21,2011, allowing the insolvent company to continue operating normally as it attempts to reorganize its financial affairs.

“We made the difficult decision to seek creditor protection because we believe this step to be in the best interest of all our stakeholders,” Garth Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Oilsands Quest, said in a news release.

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.

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.

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.

On August 18, 2011, Mr. Justice Morawetz, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released an important decision in regard to preference actions in the matter of Tucker v. Aero Inventory (UK) Limited (together with Aero Inventory plc, Aero).

Background

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

The leading international insolvency practitioners and thought leaders in the world will convene for the 11th Annual Conference of the International Insolvency Institute at Columbia University in New York on June 13-14, 2011. The Conference will feature reports and analyses of the world’s most important current international insolvency issues and controversies described by speakers who are recognized globally as preeminent in their field.

INTRODUCTION

As international trade grows, financial institutions and manufacturers of equipment recognize that international sales or globalization of their business is a requirement to staying competitive.