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Category Archives: Securities

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The Second Opinion: The U.S. Supreme Court Questions Fraud-on-the-Market

A Commentary on Recent Legal Developments by the Opinions Group of McCarthy Tétrault LLP

By Kirsten Thompson on Posted in Securities, The Second Opinion

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Amgen Inc.  v. Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Funds, No. 11-1085, 2013 WL 691001 (Feb. 27, 2013) (“Amgen”) securities fraud class action is an important milestone in the evolution of the defences to securities disclosure class actions in the U.S., and potentially in Canada.  The Court addressed… → Read More

Clock Starts with the Act of Fraud: U.S. Supreme Court Confirms Five-Year Limitation Period for Government Enforcement Proceedings

By Carole Piovesan on Posted in Case Comments, Securities

The US Supreme Court recently handed the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a very clear message: the act of fraud – not its discovery – triggers the start of the limitation period in government enforcement proceedings. Chief Justice Roberts’ unanimous decision in Gabelli et al v. Securities and Exchange Commission gave a strict… → Read More

The Fairness of Tracing: Ontario Court of Appeal Considers Methods of Distributing Remaining Funds to Victims of a Ponzi Scheme

By Melissa Atkin on Posted in Case Comments, Securities

In Boughner v. Greyhawk, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered different methods for determining how to fairly distribute comingled funds remaining from a collapsed Ponzi scheme. The Court affirmed the decision of the lower court which held that, where practical, remaining funds should be allocated according to the lowest intermediate balance rule, whereby funds… → Read More

This Week at the SCC (07/12/2012)

By Brandon Kain on Posted in Aboriginal, Bankruptcy and Debt, Corporate Law, Environmental, Labour and Employment, Securities, This Week at the SCC

Cases Decided The Supreme Court of Canada released one decision this week of interest to Canadian businesses and professions. In Newfoundland and Labrador v. AbitibiBowater Inc., 2012 SCC 67, the majority of the Court held that environmental protection orders issued under provincial legislation, which required an insolvent company to undertake remediation measures but which were… → Read More

This Week at the SCC (30/11/2012)

By Brandon Kain on Posted in Bankruptcy and Debt, Intellectual Property, Labour and Employment, Professions, Securities, This Week at the SCC

Cases Decided The Supreme Court of Canada released one decision this week of interest to Canadian businesses and professions. In Construction Labour Relations v. Driver Iron Inc., 2012 SCC 65, the Court held the Alberta Court of Appeal erred in quashing a decision of the Alberta Labour Relations Board on judicial review.  The Court’s brief judgment… → Read More

Round and Round We Go: BCCA Declines Opportunity to Shape Leave Test in Secondary Market Class Actions

By Elder C. Marques and Helen Burnett on Posted in Case Comments, Class Actions, Corporate Law, Procedure, Securities, Torts

In a decision released this month, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has declined to enter the national fray on the question of how courts should interpret statutory leave requirements adopted throughout Canada in recent securities legislation amendments.  These leave requirements impose a preliminary hurdle for plaintiffs seeking to advance statutory secondary market class action… → Read More

Securities Commissions and the “Public Interest” at the SCC: Court to Rule on Inter-Provincial Reciprocal Orders and Limitation Periods

By Elder C. Marques on Posted in Administrative, Case Comments, Procedure, Securities

The Supreme Court of Canada agreed earlier this summer to hear the appeal in Patricia McLean v. Executive Director of the British Columbia Securities Commission, an interesting case that raises several legal issues relevant to provincial securities commissions and the extra-provincial reach of securities litigation. With the Court’s decision last week to dismiss the leave application in… → Read More

Hot Off the Press – World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative Actions Around the Globe

By McCarthy Tétrault LLP on Posted in Aboriginal, Class Actions, Communications, Construction and Real Estate, Energy, Financial Services, Franchise and Distribution, Health, Insurance, Media, Municipal, Procedure, Professions, Securities, Transportation

In the newly published World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative Actions Around the Globe, McCarthy Tétrault litigators David Hamer and Shane D’Souza co-authored the “Multijurisdictional and Transnational Class Litigation: Lawsuits Heard ‘Round the World” chapter. The chapter offers guidance to international lawyers who represent clients involved in cross-border, multinational and international class… → Read More

Back to Basic: US Supreme Court to Hear Amgen and Clarify “Fraud-on-the-Market” Reliance Presumption in Class Actions

By Elder C. Marques on Posted in Case Previews, Class Actions, Corporate Law, Securities, Torts

The Supreme Court of the United States has announced it will hear the appeal in Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, setting the stage for an important clarification of the use of the “fraud-on-the-market” reliance presumption in U.S. securities class actions. The Court first set out the presumption in its 1988 landmark… → Read More

U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Adopt a Bright-Line Rule on Limitation Periods for Corporate Insider Profit Claims

By Sarah Shody on Posted in Case Comments, Corporate Law, Procedure, Securities

There is little law in Canada regarding if and how limitation periods applicable to statutory causes of actions in securities legislation can be tolled. For many public companies, this can create uncertainty regarding whether investor lawsuits are statute-barred. For example, the limitation period in s. 138 of the Ontario Securities Act, which covers causes of… → Read More

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun: ONCA Allows Securities Act Claims Against Foreign-Listed Issuers in Canadian Solar

By Brandon Kain on Posted in Case Comments, Class Actions, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional, Securities

In a recent judgment that is sure to become a landmark in the growing field of Canadian securities class actions, the Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that the statutory cause of action for secondary market misrepresentations can be asserted against issuers whose shares are listed solely on a foreign exchange.  The ruling in Abdula v. Canadian Solar opens… → Read More

OCA to Address Secondary Market Claims Against Foreign-Listed Issuers

By Brandon Kain on Posted in Case Comments, Class Actions, Securities

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently announced that it will hear arguments in Abdula v. Canadian Solar.  The appeal raises the thorny question of when issuers listed solely on foreign exchanges may be sued for secondary market misrepresentations under the Ontario Securities Act.  This marks the first time that the issue will be considered by a Canadian appellate court.

B.C. Court of Appeal Considers Extraterritorial Reach of Securities Act

By Brandon Kain on Posted in Administrative, Case Comments, Constitutional, Securities

In an interesting new judgment - Torudag - the British Columbia Court of Appeal has held that the B.C. Securities Commission may assert regulatory jurisdiction over residents of other provinces, who engage in insider trading through a stock exchange in Ontario.  The Torudag Court arrived at this conclusion despite extraterritoriality arguments about the constitutional applicability of the B.C. Securities… → Read More