The Dáil Public Accounts Committee has issued a report which primarily examined the loss of "Fiduciary" taxes (such as PRSI and PAYE) arising from company insolvency. The Committee concluded that there is a need in Ireland to introduce further measures to reduce the amount of Fiduciary taxes that are lost due to the irresponsible behaviour of directors. There is a need, according to the report, for the introduction of a deterrent which will make directors aware of the negative consequences which could arise for them if they wilfully evade paying the company taxes that are due.
Last week the Supreme Court overturned Mr Justice McGovern's recent decision in the Linen Supply of Ireland examinership that the current legislation does not permit the repudiation of leases in an examinership. The case has now been remitted back to the High Court to consider whether, in the specific case before it, the leases ought to be repudiated in order for a scheme of arrangement to be formulated.
On September 18, 2009, a number of amendments to Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) came into force. The amendments were passed in 2005 and 2007 but, aside from a few provisions that became effective in July 2008, the amendments sat dormant, awaiting proclamation into force. Pursuant to Order in Council P.C. 2009-1207, almost all of these amendments have now been brought into force. Some of these provisions will be of interest to participants in the securitization market.
Recent attempts by the Zoe Group to seek court protection have raised the profile of examinerships. The main legal test to enter the process is: does the company have a reasonable prospect of survival. But what are the key ingredients for a successful examinership?
On September 18, 2009, many long-awaited amendments to Canada's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) came into force. One of these new provisions will help protect intellectual property (IP) licensees in the event of the bankruptcy of their licensors.
Pursuant to amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Actand Companies' Creditors Arrangement Actthat took effect on September 18, 2009, an automatic stay of proceedings initiated on the filing of a proposal or notice of intention does not apply to regulatory bodies a
On July 14, 2009, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Canada (Attorney General) v. Reliance Insurance Company, an application regarding the allocation of surplus arising from the liquidation of the Canadian branch (Reliance Canada) of U.S.-based Reliance Insurance Company (Reliance U.S.), a property and casualty insurer that was itself in liquidation.
Earlier this year Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. (Abitibi) and various related entities proposed to enter into an arrangement with certain classes of its creditors relying on the plan of arrangement provisions in the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA). It is unusual to propose a corporate plan with respect to a company's debt. The CBCA plan of arrangement provision is not fundamentally an insolvency law. The procedure is most often used to restructure securityholder relationships within solvent companies and that is the primary intention.
The extraordinary turmoil in the financial markets in recent times has caused many major economies, including the Canadian economy, to enter into a recessionary period. With the financial sector still trying to cope with the shocks of 2007 and 2008, prospects for a full Canadian economic recovery in the near future appear uncertain. Recent decisions by well-established Canadian companies such as Nortel Networks and Masonite International Corporation (a Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Triangular (or cross-affiliate) set-off has been at issue recently in the Companies' Creditors Arrangements Act (Canada) (CCAA) proceedings with respect to SemCAMS ULC (SemCAMS) (and certain other of its Canadian affiliates). In one application, SemCAMS successfully challenged Nexen Marketing's (Nexen) attempts to effect triangular set-off where Nexen lacked a contractual right to do so.
Nexen Marketing was a party to a number of agreements with SemCAMS and certain of its affiliates: