Iona Contractors Ltd. v. Guarantee Company of North America
The Alberta Court of Appeal released its much anticipated decision addressing the interaction between the trust provisions of the Builders’ Lien Act (“BLA”) and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”) in Iona Contractors Ltd. v Guarantee Company of North America, 2015 ABCA 240 on July 16, 2015.
The recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision in Yukon Zinc Corporation (Re), 2015 BCSC 836, provides some rare insight into the operation of provincial “miners lien” legislation in an insolvency context.
Background
The Alberta Energy Regulator’s (the “AER”) final phase of changes to the Licensee Liability Rating Program (the “LLR Program”) comes into effect on August 1, 2015. The AER’s Bulletin 2015-13 (found here) says that the implementation date was delayed from May 1 to August 1, 2015, to give licensees more time to understand the implications of, and prepare for, the Phase-3 program changes in light of current market conditions.
What is a Stalking Horse?
In the distressed M&A context, a stalking horse refers to a potential purchaser participating in a stalking horse auction who agrees to acquire the assets or business of an insolvent debtor as a going concern. In a stalking horse auction of an insolvent business, a preliminary bid by the stalking horse bidder is disclosed to the market and becomes the minimum bid, or floor price, that other parties can then outbid.
- On 11 March 2015, the High Court delivered its decision in Fortress Credit & Anor v Fletcher & Ors [2015] HCA 10.
- The appellant was Fortress Credit.
- On 11 March 2015 the High Court delivered its decision in Grant Samuel & Ors v Fletcher & Ors [2015] HCA 8.
- The appellants were Grant Samuel Corporate Finance Pty Limited and JP Morgan Chase Bank.
Recent decisions in the Ontario courts have brought this issue to the forefront, which is salient during this time of economic uncertainty for the oil industry and its related environmental obligations. The courts have had to focus on balancing competing public interests: those of creditors and the general health and safety of the public when a debtor has an outstanding obligation to remediate its pollution.
The Senate has announced a national inquiry into insolvency in the Australian construction industry (Inquiry).[1]
In the lead up to peak periods, many businesses come under financial pressure due to various internal and external factors. Seasonal sales may not have been as planned and provision needs to be made for employee holiday pay.
On 7 November 2014 the Government released the Insolvency Law Reform Bill.
The Bill comprises of a package of proposals aimed at amending and streamlining the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and the Corporations Act 2001. It also contains proposals to reform how liquidators are registered and regulated.
Requirements to become a liquidator
Of particular interest to practitioners are the changes to the way new liquidators will become registered.