The moving parties sought orders staying two Ontario proceedings pending a determination by the Quebec Superior Court regarding jurisdiction and forum in a parallel creditors’ action.
The actions arose from the collapse of an offshore bank alleged to have operated a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, with claims that the defendant bank was liable for wrongful acts or omissions in providing correspondent banking services.
The court granted an interim stay of the Ontario “placeholder” action commenced by joint liquidators to preserve limitation periods, finding that parallel proceedings justified holding the Ontario action in abeyance pending the Quebec court’s determination.
The court also temporarily stayed a separate Ontario action brought by a small group of creditors to avoid duplicative litigation until the jurisdictional dispute in Quebec was resolved.
Costs were awarded to the joint liquidators as moving parties.
