Law

Woman launches class action on banks over LIBOR

A U.S. woman is launching a class action lawsuit on some of the world’s biggest banks, including Barclays, Bank of America and UBS. She claims their hand in the setting of LIBOR made mortgage repayments more expensive than they should’ve been between 2000 and 2009, reports FT.com. Read: LIBOR losing benchmark status? The subprime, adjustable-rate […]

By Wire services |October 16, 2012

1 min read

Industry

AGF suing former fund manager

On Friday, AGF Management and AGF Investments launched a lawsuit against a Dallas-based investment company and its recruitment firm. It alleges Westwood Holdings Group—along with select individuals, including ex-fund manager Patricia Perez-Coutts—orchestrated an attempted unlawful lift-out of an entire team of experienced investment managers. Perez-Coutts left her position at AGF this spring. She and some […]

By Staff |August 7, 2012

1 min read

Industry

$200 will sinks lawyer

FINRA has suspended a Merrill Lynch lawyer for practicing law – albeit outside the scope of his role as a General Securities Sales Supervisor.

By Melissa Shin |May 2, 2012

1 min read

Planning and Advice

Don’t let clients claim legal losses late

Some of the more mundane aspects of the law revolve around time: the calculation of notice periods; the periods in which court documents must be served and filed; the number of days before a trial that expert reports must be filed.

By Daniel Dochylo |April 1, 2012

5 min read

Judge tosses Madoff suits

A judge has thrown out several lawsuits by investors who blame hedge funds for failing to detect Bernard Madoff's massive fraud, saying the one-time Nasdaq chairman "cleverly leveraged his considerable reputation" to dupe even the most sophisticated financial entities, including regulators and Wall Street banks.

By Wire services |September 26, 2011

3 min read

What should companies disclose?

It is rare that the Supreme Court of Canada gets an opportunity to comment on the securities laws of Canada, let alone offer guidance. In the case of Sharbern Holding Inc. v. Vancouver Airport Center Ltd, it has though in a big way. The concept at issue in Sharbern is "materiality" – determining what information should be disclosed to investors by issuers in offering documents. The Supreme Court’s decision clarified the test for what is "material", borrowing a test from American securities law and ultimately siding with the issuer.

4 min read

Court urges closure of bankruptcy loophole

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled a Manitoba man does not have to pay his ex-wife an equalization payment on their marital home because he filed for bankruptcy. The Court acknowledged the unfairness of the ruling in Schreyer v. Schreyer, which occurred due to the cross-purposes of bankruptcy and family law. Since an equalization […]

3 min read

Do’s and don’ts for advising trusts

Reader Alert: This is a follow-up story to ‘Puppet Trustees’ Get a Second Chance. Two lower court rulings in the Garron Family Trust et al. v. The Queen case established central management and control of trust assets, rather than the residence of trustees, as the key test for determining the residence of a trust. That […]

5 min read

Due diligence can prevent estate litigation

Poor choices made by financial planners in connecting their clients to wills and estate lawyers can, and often do, result in lengthy and expensive estate litigation. Solicitor negligence is not something that people like to talk about, but it can be a problem, said Markham-based Andrea Kelly, barrister and solicitor, speaking at the CIFPs’ 9th […]

4 min read