When a company files for bankruptcy, employees are faced with uncertainty on a number of issues. Everything from outstanding wages to benefit entitlements are suddenly at risk. Further, when a company becomes insolvent, employees are often laid off in circumstances that fail to satisfy statutory or common law notice period entitlements. However, under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (“BIA”), employees are often barred from fully recovering what they are owed.
Earlier this summer an affiliate of Rogers Communications Inc. acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of the corporation carrying on the Mobilicity wireless business in the context of Mobilicity’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding.
An insolvent entity will often have one or more businesses that, once separated from the insolvent organization or cleansed of their existing liabilities, is quite attractive acquisition targets.
Norton Rose Fulbright’s Employment and Labour Team in Montréal raised a preliminary objection against an arbitrator’s jurisdiction on the basis of orders rendered pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (“CCAA“), which was upheld and led to the dismissal of the grievance.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in (Re) Indalex has changed the landscape for both lenders and borrowers in Canada who sponsor registered defined benefit pension plans. For lenders, carefully drafted loan documentation and effective planning can enhance the protection of a secured lender’s position in the face of the broadened scope of a deemed trust applicable to a borrower’s defined benefit pension obligations.
In (Re) Indalex, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) affirmed the super-priority of the security granted to a debtor-in-possession (DIP) lender, over a deemed trust created under provincial pension legislation, in the context of a Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding. The SCC’s analysis leaves open further issues.
In Re Sino-Forest Corporation1, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the interpretation of “equity claims” employed by Justice Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List).
The draft Banking Business (Amendment No. 8) (Jersey) Law 201- has been adopted by the States of Jersey and is awaiting the approval of the Privy Council. The draft Law will amend the Banking Business (Jersey) Law 1991 to provide for offences and impose duties under the Depositors Compensation Scheme.
Introduction
In finance transactions, security over Guernsey situs assets is usually taken by way of security agreement under the Security Interests (Guernsey) Law, 1993, as amended (the "Law").
The States of Guernsey has announced the recommendations from the consultation carried out on proposed changes to the Companies (Guernsey) Law 2008. This coincides with a judgment from the Royal Court highlighting the timely nature of proposed changes.
The 2008 Law was the result of a wholesale revision and consolidation of the corporate legal framework. Whilst its focus was on corporate law it also encompassed the insolvency regime in Guernsey. The consultation exercise was to determine what, if any, changes may be required now that the 2008 Law had been in place for some time.