Maureen Ward

The defendant brought a motion for security for costs against the plaintiff, a Ukrainian corporation seeking to enforce Ukrainian judgments in Ontario.

The plaintiff acknowledged it was not ordinarily resident in Ontario but argued the requested $100,000 was excessive and unjust given the merits of its claim.

The court considered the complex history of the foreign proceedings, allegations of fraud, and the failure of the plaintiff's alleged beneficial owner to post security in related foreign litigation.

Applying principles of proportionality, the court ordered the plaintiff to post $70,000 as security for costs for the upcoming summary judgment motion.

Investors who lost $17 million in a fraudulent certificate of deposit scheme brought a motion for leave to amend their statement of claim against a bank that had acted as a correspondent bank for the fraudster.

Earlier pleadings alleging a general duty on banks to monitor customers for fraud had been struck for failing to disclose a reasonable cause of action.

The proposed amendments added detailed allegations based on documents obtained by liquidators showing internal concerns within the bank about suspicious activities and regulatory issues surrounding the customer.

The court held that the amended pleading alleged a more specific duty arising from particular knowledge and circumstances rather than a broad duty to investigate customers generally.

Because the new allegations relied on information not reasonably available earlier and could potentially support a tenable claim, leave to amend was granted.