Good afternoon.
Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the weeks of September 7 to 11 and September 14 to 18, 2020.
The past two weeks saw ten substantive decisions released by the Court of Appeal. Topics covered included bankruptcy & insolvency, contracts (freight), enforcement of letters of request by foreign courts, family law and insurance, as well as the usual procedural decisions relating to extensions of time and appellate jurisdiction.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend.
On 1 December 2011 the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011 (Vic) commenced operation. Under the Act, a farm debt mediation scheme is implemented which makes it compulsory for banks and other creditors to offer mediation to farmers before commencing debt recovery proceedings against the farmer on mortgages. Special Counsel, Jacqueline Browning discusses the scheme, which is about to mark its first anniversary of operation.
Key features
Some key features of the new Act (which in many ways mirrors similar legislation in NSW) are as follows:
Key Points:
There are various issues of which a secured creditor must be aware in seeking to either comply with its obligations or take steps to enforce a mortgage under the Act.
Victoria's new Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011 (Vic) commenced operation on 1 December 2011 and is largely modelled on the equivalent New South Wales legislation, the Farm Debt Mediation Act 1994 (NSW).
Entry into force on 1 April 2009 of the new Act on the continuity of companies
The Act of 31 January 2009 on the continuity of companies (Loi relative à la continuité des enterprises/Wet betreffende de continuïteit van de ondernemingen, the "Act") entered into force on 1 April 2009.
The Business Continuity Act of 31 January 2009 (the “Act”) creates a variety of flexible tools to promote business recovery and turnaround. In addition to an updated judicial reorganization procedure (i.e., a reorganization overseen by the court), the Act also introduces several interesting options for out-of-court workouts and preventive measures to promote business recovery.
Out-of-court agreements
The Act of January 31, 2009 on the continuity of companies (Loi relative à la continuité des enterprises/Wet betreffende de continuïteit van de ondernemingen, the "Act") entered into force on April 1, 2009.
Belgium has modified its law on business reorganizations that involve distressed companies. The new law of January 31, 2009, on the continuity of companies came into force on April 1, 2009, replacing an unpopular and rigid law on judicial composition proceedings that dated to 1997.
This new law simplifies the rules and procedures for reorganizing distressed companies by providing a variety of new flexible out-of-court and in-court options designed to facilitate business recovery.
Most or all creditors who lend to farmers will be familiar with the Farm Debt Mediation Act, S.C. 1997, c. 21 (the “FDMA”) and the need to serve a notice under the FDMA before taking action against a farmer. However, there are some details of how the FDMA operates that may not be as well-known. This piece will highlight some of those details.
The Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011 (Vic) (the Act) has been in operation for some two years and is in large part modelled on New South Wales legislation which has been operative since 1994. Since the commencement of the Act in Victoria, over 180 mediations have taken place with 95% of those mediations resulting in a settlement agreement between the parties.
Introduction
The ongoing financial crisis has not left France untouched. The number of company insolvencies rose considerably in 2013: while judicial rehabilitation proceedings remained stable, liquidation proceedings increased by 4% from 2012, and “safeguard” proceedings (a procedure inspired by “Chapter 11” proceedings in the United States) increased by 9%. Pre-insolvency proceedings such as judicially-supervised conciliation and ad hoc mediation reached an all-time high, 24% over 2012.