Shaan P. Tolani

In this putative securities class action arising from alleged misconduct by the former CEO of Endeavour Mining, the plaintiffs moved for an order requiring defendants to deliver statements of defence and produce insurance information by November 21, 2025.

The defendants opposed both requests, arguing that no statement of defence is required before leave to proceed is granted under the Securities Act, and that insurance information disclosure is premature.

The court dismissed both aspects of the motion, finding that prior to OSA leave being granted, the statutory claim is a nullity and therefore no defence is required, and that insurance disclosure is premature absent settlement discussions or leave being granted.

The court considered whether a dispute over the calculation of an earn-out under a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) should be referred to an independent accountant, as provided in the PSA, or determined by the court.

The applicants argued that the dispute, which concerned whether certain partnership units received by the respondents should be included in the earn-out calculation, fell within the accountant’s jurisdiction.

The respondents argued the issue was a legal one for the court.

The court held that the PSA’s language and commercial context indicated the parties intended all unresolved disputed items regarding the earn-out to be determined by an independent accountant, not just calculation disputes.

The court directed the parties to submit their dispute to an independent chartered accountant in accordance with the PSA.

The applicant, Tacora Resources Inc., sought approval for an Amended and Restated Debtor in Possession (DIP) financing agreement with Cargill and an extension of the CCAA Stay Period.

The Ad Hoc Group of Noteholders (AHG) opposed the Cargill DIP, proposing an alternative and seeking renegotiation of terms, including an exit fee, legal costs, and the "Offtake Condition" related to a pre-existing commercial agreement with Cargill.

The court approved the Cargill DIP and extended the stay, finding the Cargill agreement offered greater short-term stability and liquidity, was recommended by the Monitor, and did not materially prejudice other stakeholders beyond what already existed due to the pre-CCAA Offtake Agreement.

The court held that the DIP approval motion was not the appropriate forum to address the enforceability or commercial reasonableness of the Offtake Agreement itself.

Nobul Technologies Inc. brought a motion for a prospective order to restrain a former director, Michael Cappuccitti, from contravening a non-disparagement provision by communicating with shareholders.

Cappuccitti had sent emails to shareholders attaching his statement of claim in a separate action against Nobul, after Nobul refused to circulate it, despite having circulated its own statement of claim against Cappuccitti.

The court found that Cappuccitti's email was not disparaging, noting it was a cover note to circulate a statement of claim with a clear caveat that allegations were unproven.

The court emphasized shareholders' right to communicate and questioned Nobul's "clean hands" in seeking the injunction.

The motion was dismissed as there was no serious issue to be tried regarding a breach of the non-disparagement clause.

The plaintiff moved to disqualify Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (NRF) from acting as lawyers of record for the K2 defendants.

The plaintiff argued that it was a current client of NRF for patent applications, and that NRF's representation of the K2 defendants in this litigation, which involved allegations that the plaintiff's core technology did not exist, created a disqualifying conflict of interest.

The court found that the two mandates were substantially related and that the bright line rule applied, rendering the advance waiver in NRF's engagement letter ineffective.

The motion to disqualify NRF was granted.

This appeal concerns the admissibility of fresh evidence in an application to set aside an arbitral tribunal's jurisdictional decision under the UNCITRAL Model Law.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario affirmed the Divisional Court's ruling that such applications are hearings de novo, allowing parties to introduce evidence not previously before the arbitral tribunal, and that the "competence-competence" principle does not limit the court's fact-finding ability in this context.

The Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the Divisional Court's decision to admit the fresh evidence.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario heard a motion to quash an appeal.

The underlying order, which was the subject of the appeal, concerned the validity of service on the appellant.

The Court determined that orders relating to the validity of service are interlocutory, and therefore, the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal.

The motion to quash was allowed, and the appeal was quashed.

The Court noted that the appellant should not be prejudiced by the delay in bringing the matter before the Divisional Court, and counsel for the respondent agreed not to object to a timely extension of time for a motion for leave to appeal in the Divisional Court.

The plaintiff, Shanghai Lianyin Investment Co., Ltd. (SLIC), brought a motion for an interim preservation order under Rule 45.01(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure concerning two Ontario properties registered in the name of the defendant Lichun Guo, alleging they were held in resulting trust for her husband, Charles Lu, against whom SLIC held a CAD$233 million arbitral award.

Concurrently, Ms. Guo brought a cross-motion for security for costs.

The court dismissed SLIC's preservation order motion, ruling that Rule 45.01 is not the appropriate mechanism for preventing asset dissipation before judgment where the plaintiff does not assert a legal right to the specific assets, but rather seeks to satisfy a general monetary judgment.

Such relief requires meeting the stricter test for a Mareva injunction or a certificate of pending litigation.

The court granted Ms. Guo's motion for security for costs, finding that SLIC, as an out-of-province corporation with insufficient Ontario assets, did not demonstrate a "good chance of success" on the merits of its complex resulting trust claim, particularly given the unsettled legal question in Ontario regarding a creditor's ability to enforce a judgment against property held by a spouse in resulting trust without an allegation of fraudulent conveyance.

The Joint Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited (SIB) appealed the dismissal of their negligence claim against The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank).

SIB was a vehicle for a massive Ponzi scheme.

The Liquidators claimed TD Bank was negligent in providing correspondent banking services by failing to detect and protect SIB from insider abuse.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's finding that TD Bank did not owe a novel duty of care to monitor SIB for internal fraud, as this fell outside the scope of TD Bank's undertaking as a correspondent bank.

The court also affirmed the trial judge's alternative finding that even if a duty existed, there was no breach of the standard of care, and that the trial judge's procedural rulings regarding witness recall were fair.

The appeal was dismissed.

The joint liquidators of Stanford International Bank (SIB) and a group of investors brought actions against TD Bank, SIB's primary U.S. dollar correspondent bank, for knowing assistance in breach of fiduciary duty and negligence.

The plaintiffs alleged that TD Bank should have detected and prevented the massive Ponzi scheme orchestrated by SIB's owner, Allen Stanford.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the actions, finding that TD Bank had no actual knowledge of the fraud and was not reckless or wilfully blind.

The court also held that TD Bank did not owe a novel duty of care to protect its customer from insider abuse, and even if it did, it met the standard of care of a reasonable banker during the relevant period.