A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice serves as a reminder for secured lenders of the importance of perfecting a security interest by registration. Absent perfection, collateral is at risk of seizure by judgment creditors of the borrower. Perfection, however, insures that a creditor has a priority interest in collateral over any subsequent judgment creditor. The decision also shows the importance to vendors of conducting continuous diligence on customers when credit is being extended on a regular basis.

Backround

Sometimes, to induce potential borrowers/debtors to obtain credit, lenders (or sellers) will agree to charge no interest on what is loaned, or, the unpaid price for a credit sale of goods and/or services.

Financial institutions need to be mindful of the effect of the engagement of financial advisors with respect to their special loan clients.

Secured creditors should take note of Callidus,¹ wherein the Federal Court (the “Court”) held that the bankruptcy of a tax debtor rendered a statutory deemed trust under section 222 of the Excise Tax Act (the “ETA”) ineffective as against a secured creditor who, prior to the bankruptcy, received proceeds from the tax debtor’s assets.

Background

There are a number of similarities between restructuring legislation in Canada and the United States.  Each of Canada and the United States have adopted a form of the UNCITRAL Model Law Cross-Border Insolvency in order to facilitate cooperation and efficient administration of cases with an international component.  In Canada this has occurred through implementation of both Part XIII of the 

On October 13, 2015, the Ontario Court of Appeal (the "Court of Appeal") upheld1 a CCAA judge's decision that the "interest stops rule" applies in CCAA proceedings, which significantly limits unsecured creditors' ability to recover interest accrued after the date of a debtor's insolvency.

Background

On November 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered three decisions on the application of the the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC 1985, c. B-3 (BIA) and its interaction with certain provincial statutes.

OVERVIEW OF THE FACTS

Introduction – why does this matter?

Bankruptcy is not something that many people want to hear about. In 2017, the words bankruptcy and insolvency still have negative connotations that many people fear. But, this fear often comes from a place of misunderstanding. Although bankruptcy may seem like a complete dead end to many, the fact of the matter is, bankruptcy (both personal and business) can often lead to a clean slate and a fresh start for many.

Last year, we reported that Australia had proposed significant insolvency reforms that, in our view, are long overdue ("A Major Leap Forward for Australian Insolvency Laws").