A year after the uncertainty created in the Canadian corporate debt financing world by the Ontario Court of Appeal's pensions-friendly decision in the Indalex CCAA restructuring matter2, the Quebec Superior Court, in April 2012, determined in a lengthy and well-reasoned decision that the key restructuring and pensions law principles underpinning Indalex do not apply in Quebec when considering the treatment of defined benefit amortization payment and deficit claims in a restructuring.
The Supreme Court of Canada has recently granted leave to appeal from the judgment of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Edward Sumio Nishi v. Rascal Trucking Ltd. This appeal focuses on the test for a resulting trust in the commercial context.
In the latest decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court (the “Court”) regarding the bankruptcy of Ted LeRoy Trucking Ltd.
On March 9, 2012, the Ontario Superior Court decided several motions regarding five Ontario properties formerly owned by Nortel Networks Corporation, including one property in which Nortel retained a partial interest. The properties had been contaminated as a result of historical manufacturing on the properties.
In the Kitchener Frame Ltd1 decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) confirmed that third-party releases in proposals made under the BIA2 are permitted. In doing so, the Court relied on the principle that the BIA and CCAA3 ought to be read and interpreted, harmoniously. Finally, the Court sanctioned a consolidated proposal on the basis it met the requirements set out in section 59(2) of the BIA.
It is always an interesting question as to what rights a lender has with respect to a motor vehicle owned by a consumer who becomes insolvent, and whether a secured creditor is able to seize a motor vehicle in order to satisfy an obligation due under a loan. The answer may be surprising. The recent BC Court of Appeal case, Atwal (Re) (2011 BCSC 687), highlights the rights of a debtor vis-à-vis a trustee in bankruptcy with respect to the ownership of a motor vehicle.
On February 2 and 9, 2012, the Ontario Superior Court released two decisions in the ongoing proceedings of Timminco Limited and Bécancour Silicon Inc. (together, the Timminco Entities) under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) that further develop the law regarding pension claim priorities in insolvency proceedings.
In the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Toronto-Dominion Bank and Her Majesty the Queen (2012 SCC 1), the Supreme Court succinctly agreed with the reasons of Justice Noël of the Federal Court of Appeal.
In January and February of 2012, Justice Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) released two decisions1 in which he authorized a debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing charge, an administration charge, and a directors and officers (“D&O”) charge ranking ahead of, among other claims, possible pension deemed trusts over the objection of the debtor companies’ unions and on notice to the members of the companies’ pension administration committees.