Ontario Court says auditor is liable to “its client’s clients” for investment losses

In the recent decision of Lavender v. Miller Bernstein, Justice Belobaba writing for the Ontario Superior Court found an auditor liable for the...

Québec regulator takes aggressive enforcement steps against initial coin offering promoters

In recent weeks, Québec’s financial sector regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has taken aggressive enforcement steps...

Supreme Court of Canada confirms the validity of perpetual contracts

In a ruling dated July 28, 2017, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the validity of perpetual contracts in Québec law.

Recent amendments to the Ontario rules of appellate practice

Amendments to the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure came into effect on July 1, 2017. In addition to a number of technical amendments and amendments...

Common issues not remotely common? Two appeals courts disagree

Hodge v. Neinstein is an interesting case that we have written about a number of times over the past few years. The action involves a representative...

OFAC announces two major sanctions fines in July

This past July, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced two major fines for sanctions...

FINRA announces new initiatives to address “bad actor” brokers

In May, the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Board of Governors approved a set of proposals as part of...

Cy-près funds are not for individual class members’ benefit, finds Ontario Court

In cases where it is not possible or practical to give all of the money from a class action settlement directly to class members, or where funds are...

Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP: Interpretation of negotiated contract reviewed on a correctness standard because appeal raised question of public importance

In Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP, the Court of Appeal for Ontario applied the correctness standard of review on an appeal involving the interpretation of...

Regulators focusing attention on token sales using digital currencies

An investigation report released last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission strongly signals that the SEC views Initial Coin Offerings...