​On November 1, 2019, amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act,R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (BIA) and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-36 (CCAA) came into force. Among other changes described in our previous publication, these amendments expand the protection offered to intellectual property (IP) licensees in the event that the licensor enters insolvency.

FT ENE Canada Inc. (“FECI”) was in the nanofibre business, and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finetex ENE Inc. (“Finetex”). As a result of insolvency difficulties separate and apart from the Canadian business, Finetex was engaged in bankruptcy proceedings in Korea (its home jurisdiction). There was animosity between Finetex and the director of FECI.

Effective November 1, 2019, amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-3 (the BIA) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-36 (the CCAA) will, among other things, impose a requirement of good faith on all parties to proceedings (BIA and CCAA), impose an additional form of director liability (BIA), and limit the scope of relief on initial orders (CCAA).

In most trading relationships, suppliers enter into deferred payment agreements, such as instalment sales, with their retailers in order to allow retailers to stock their inventory and to manage cash flow between the delivery of goods and the resale to the customer. The possibility of default on payments or often the insolvency of a trade customer/retailer exposes the supplier to considerable risk without control of its goods and without payment. As an unsecured creditor, the supplier then stands in an unfortunate position and may never recover its goods or receive payment.

On August 30, 2019, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice handed down its decision in Doyle Salewski Inc. v Scott 2019 ONSC 5108.

Although this lengthy decision covers many topics, one of interest relates to the "appropriate means" part of the discoverability analysis when a Trustee in Bankruptcy brings a claim for unjust enrichment.

Background

On July 31, 2019, the Ontario Court of Appeal rendered its decision in Ridel v. Goldberg, clarifying the interplay of the various provisions of the Limitations Act, 2002 at play in circumstances where judgment creditors are allowed to take proceedings in their own name pursuant to an order under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The Facts

La Dirección General de Los Registros y el Notariado, en su resolución de 10 de julio de 2019, se pronuncia sobre la necesaria relatividad en la rigurosidad del balance de liquidación de una sociedad limitada, en este caso con relación a una "desafortunada" contabilización de una aportación a la cuenta 118.

El Tribunal Supremo, aun admitiendo la vertiente resarcitoria de la cláusula penal, rechaza que tenga eficacia sancionadora para el deudor en concurso. En consecuencia, se sostiene que el interés del concurso sirva como factor de moderación de las cláusulas penales.

La sentencia de la Sala de lo Civil del Tribunal Supremo número 145/2019, de 8 de marzo (Ponente Excmo. Sr. don Francisco Javier Orduña Moreno) se pronuncia sobre los efectos de la cláusula penal sobre una concursada tras la resolución de un contrato.

La resolución del Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central de 6 de noviembre de 2018 reconoce el derecho a la deducción de las dotaciones a la provisión por insolvencias en el Impuesto sobre Sociedades, en el caso de transcurso del plazo de seis meses desde el vencimiento de la obligación, con solo manifestar que el crédito se reclamó por teléfono o aportando cualquier indicio de reclamación de la deuda.

In the recent decision of Edmonton (City) v Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc., 2019 ABCA 109, the Alberta Court of Appeal has concluded that fees and costs incurred by a court-appointed receiver should have priority over all claims by secured creditors, including special liens in favour of municipalities for unpaid property taxes. This is an important decision for the insolvency bar and provides some much needed comfort to receivers that their fees and costs will be protected by the court-ordered charge.

The Decision