Introduction
Good afternoon.
Following are this week’s summaries of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of March 21, 2022.
Areas of law covered in the cases this week included bankruptcy and insolvency (setting aside discharge from bankruptcy and after-acquired property), municipal liability for building inspections, two child protection decisions, guarantees and a partnership dispute.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend.
Table of Contents
Civil Decisions
Good afternoon.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of March 14, 2022.
Topics covered this week included property of a bankrupt (beneficial interest in trust property), testamentary capacity and extensions of time to perfect appeals.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend.
Table of Contents
Civil Decisions
The corporate attribution doctrine concerns the attribution of the actions of a corporation’s directing mind to the corporation itself. On March 10, 2022, in Ernst & Young Inc. v. Aquino [Aquino], the Court of Appeal released what it described as a decision of first impression in which the Court considered the doctrine in the bankruptcy and insolvency context.
Good evening.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of March 7, 2022.
In Ernst & Young Inc. v. Aquino, the court upheld the application judge’s decision to grant the orders the Bondfield monitor and trustee in bankruptcy requiring payments made at undervalue to be repaid. In coming to its decision, the Court applied the corporate attribution doctrine.
As Canada prepares to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, factors such as the elimination of government pandemic support and rising interest rates may significantly affect lenders’ decisions in 2022. Many expect that withdrawal of government funding will create a wave of insolvency filings in Canada. Although there remains significant uncertainty, secured lenders may be comforted by recent court decisions across Canada that have affirmed lenders’ rights and remedies in cases of default. This article summarizes these recent decisions and offers implications for lenders going forward.
Au début de la pandémie, on craignait que le nombre de dossiers de faillite grimpe de 35 % en 2020 et en 2021. Or, bien que certains secteurs aient été durement touchés, cette crainte ne s’est jamais matérialisée au Canada et aux États-Unis – possiblement en raison des mesures de soutien considérables qui ont été mises en œuvre par les gouvernements. Or, l’avenir ne semble pas tracé pour autant, puisque selon les prévisions d’Allianz Research, les procédures de faillite augmenteront de 15 % en 2022, alors que la croissance économique mondiale affichera un recul d’entre 5,5 % et 6 %.
At the start of the pandemic, insolvency filings were expected to increase by 35% in 2020 and 2021. While some industries were hit hard, this prediction never materialized in Canada and the U.S., possibly because of significant financial government support. The future is less clear, with Allianz Research forecasting, for 2022, a 15% increase in insolvency filings and a 5.5–6% decrease in global economic growth.
Below are five key trends that may impact insolvencies this year, based on data published by the World Bank:
Reverse vesting orders (or “RVOs”) have become an increasingly popular and useful tool for maximizing recovery in complex insolvencies in Canada, particularly in circumstances where traditional alternatives of asset sales or restructuring plans are not effective or practical. RVOs are very attractive to purchasers of distressed businesses because they can efficiently preserve the value of permits, tax losses and other assets which cannot be easily transferred to a purchaser through an asset transaction.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the “Court”) in Re Harte Gold Corp.,[1]issued its first published decision on the use of reverse vesting orders (“RVOs”) finding that the