Recently, a global Baker McKenzie team led by Bill Watson, Lee Van Voorhis, Chris Burkett, and Jennifer Bernardo received approval from the Government of Canada to act as an approved Third Party reviewer under the Canadian Integrity Regime.
Continue Reading Baker McKenzie Approved as Third Party Reviewer under Integrity Regime by Government of Canada

In Wong v. Luu, the British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld an order requiring the production of a redacted trust ledger to the bankruptcy trustees for Luu Hung Viet Derrick (“Luu”) on the grounds that the trust ledger was not presumptively privileged and that production would not violate the bankrupt’s right to communicate in confidence with his lawyers.

In 2012, Luu had been adjudged bankrupt in Hong Kong and his bankruptcy trustees had been hunting for his assets when the trustees became aware of more than $3 million dollars paid into the trust account of Luu’s lawyers in British Columbia in 2013. This had not been disclosed by Luu. When the bankruptcy trustees sought information from Luu’s lawyers about the monies received, they refused to provide any information on grounds of legal privilege.

The trustees successfully sought an order from the British Columbia Supreme Court compelling Luu’s lawyers to produce accounting records of the amount of trust funds held for or at the direction of Luu, and records showing the receipt of any trust funds and any payments made from trust to Luu or anyone at Luu’s direction. Luu’s lawyers appealed the order requiring production of the trust ledger.
Continue Reading Bankrupt’s right to assert solicitor-client privilege is not absolute

The Supreme Court of Canada released its anticipated decision in Guindon v. Canada on July 31, 2015, which held that administrative monetary penalties (“AMPs”) in the Income Tax Act  are not offences that trigger constitutional protections such as the right to be presumed innocent. You can read more about the case in this alert for Global Compliance News.
Continue Reading The Constitutionality of Administrative Monetary Penalties: Defining the punitive paradigm

The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Condon v. The Queen, 2015 FCA 159 (“Condon“), released July 6, 2015, has significant implications for organizations that have experienced large scale data breaches. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision by the Federal Court to certify a class action lawsuit based on the recently developed tort of intrusion upon seclusion (i.e. breach of privacy) and breach of contract and warranty. However, the Federal Court of Appeal also expanded the certification to include claims of negligence and breach of confidence. The lower court had found the failure to allege specific damages arising from the data breach to be fatal to the negligence and breach of confidence claims, but the Federal Court of Appeal reversed the lower court on this point.
Continue Reading The Widening Scope of Data Breach Class Actions

On July 3rd, 2015, the Canadian government announced a new Integrity Framework (the “Integrity Regime”), which applies to all federal procurement and real property transactions, and debars suppliers who have been convicted of “integrity offences” from contracting with the federal government for a set period of time ranging from 5-10 years.

The previous regime, first introduced in 2012 by Public Works and Government Services Canada (“PWGSC”) was then revised in March of 2014. At the time, the updated Integrity Regime was seen by many as inflexible and unduly harsh. In particular, a number of respected commercial and legal organizations criticized the Integrity Regime for providing for an automatic 10-year ban on government contracting for suppliers who were found guilty (or discharged) in relation to offences included on an enumerated list from a diverse set of laws, including the Financial Administration Act, the Criminal Code, the Competition Act, and the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, among others[1].
Continue Reading The New Integrity Regime in Canada – Revised Debarment Rules still too strict?

On May 4, 2015, Justice A.D. Macleod of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench certified an omnibus class action in Starratt v. Mamdani, 2015 ABQB 280. The class action involves claims of investment fraud and misrepresentation by the defendants brought on behalf of class members in 21 subclasses. Certification was granted despite the case’s complexity, and the varying alleged harms to class members arising from the alleged fraud and misrepresentations of the defendants.
Continue Reading Class action certified in alleged fraudulent investment scheme

In Akagi v. Synergy Group (2000) Inc. (“Akagi“), the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside a series of ex parte orders made by Toronto’s Commercial List Court granting broad investigative powers to a court-appointed receiver.  The receiver had been empowered under section 101 of the Courts of Justice Act which gives the court powers to make such an order “where it appears to a judge of the court to be just or convenient to do so”.  The Court of Appeal ruled in its decision released on May 22, 2015, that there are situations where it is appropriate to appoint a receiver to investigate the affairs of a debtor or to review certain transactions including even, in proper circumstances, the affairs of and transactions concerning related non-parties.  However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the receivership in Akagi had morphed into an expansive investigation on behalf of non-parties which the Court found to be improper and misguided.
Continue Reading Ontario’s Highest Court affirms the concept of Investigative Receiverships, but with note of caution

On May 5, 2014, Ontario’s Divisional Court dismissed the appeal of Otto Spork, Konstantinos Ekonomidis, and Natalie Spork from the decision of the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) that they had breached Ontario’s securities law and engaged in conduct contrary to the public interest. Otto Spork, Konstantinos Ekonomidis, and Natalie Spork were  ordered to disgorge $6.75 million, $325,000 and $165,000, respectively, out of a total $23 million that had been obtained from investors.  Virtually all of the $23 million was lost.
Continue Reading Disgorgement Remedy: Recent Developments in the Province of Ontario

The distribution and sale of counterfeit goods in Canada, such as counterfeit banknotes, pharmaceutical products and luxury items, has been a growing threat impacting Canadian businesses and consumers.  This prompted the introduction of Bill C-8, the Combating Counterfeit Products Act  (the “Act”), which received Royal Assent on December 9, 2014.  The Act aims to reduce the sale of counterfeit goods and bring Canada in line with international standards in trying to stop counterfeit products from crossing international borders.
Continue Reading Fighting importation of counterfeit products into Canada