Early last week PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., in its capacity as trustee in bankruptcy for Sequoia Resources Corp., filed a statement of claim against Perpetual Energy Inc., attempting to unwind an asset sale from Oct. 1, 2016. Alternatively, PwC is seeking $217-million in damages. Along with Perpetual, PwC has named certain subsidiaries and its CEO, Susan Riddell Rose, as defendants.

In its statement of claim, the plaintiff is relying upon legal principles associated with oppression, reviewable transactions in insolvencies and regulatory law in support of its action.

Un ajustement après la légalisation

Post-legalization correction?

On June 26, 2018, Regional Senior Justice Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an order approving a plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (“CBCA”), in respect of Concordia International Corp.

On March 16, 2018, a Quebec Court approved a litigation funding agreement for an insolvent company operating under court-protection in a Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceeding. The insolvent company wanted to pursue a significant claim against its primary secured creditor and the litigation funding agreement stipulated that the third party litigation funder will pay all legal fees and disbursements in relation to the proposed claim in exchange for a portion of any proceeds of the litigation.

Over the last year, several court decisions have touched on the legislative conflict between taxation authorities and secured creditors in insolvency situations.

In the final part of this series, we look at how you can protect your position and be prepared in the event of an impending insolvency.

Thinking ahead

It is always prudent to assess insolvency risk before finalising a contract. The trading history and financial position of a company should be carefully reviewed and a financial risk assessment made at both the outset and during the lifetime of a project. Obtain an up to date set of accounts and a credit report before entering into your contract to enable you to assess the counterparty's financial viability.

In our update this month we take a look at some of the recent cases that will be of interest to those involved in insolvency litigation. These include;

In 2002 the Supreme Court of Canada, in Bank of Montreal v Dynex Petroleum Ltd, 2002 SCC 7 (Dynex) affirmed that gross overriding royalty interests (GOR) could constitute interest in land provided the parties so intended and that intention was sufficiently evidenced in an agreement.

In Esfahani v. Samimi, 2018 ONCA 516 the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that a plaintiff pursuing a fraudulent conveyance or preference must recognize that the legal landscapes changes with a bankruptcy and that the effects of a bankruptcy filing cannot be ignored.