All posts filed under: Quebec Superior Court

More fallout from Norshield financial scandal

Published by Luis Millán

Nearly eight years after a high-flying hedge fund with ostensibly $1-billion in assets collapsed under the weight of a flurry of investor redemptions, the fallout from the Norshield Financial Group financial debacle continues unabated.

Quebec Superior Court recently certified a $159-million class action against the Royal Bank of Canada, less than four months after yet another financial planner was fined $225,000 by the Court of Quebec after being found guilty of 60 of the 62 charges laid against him by the provincial securities regulator in connection with the illegal distribution of products related to Norshield. So far, ten representatives have been found guilty, incurring fines totalling $628,500. Only one case remains outstanding.

Norshield, an umbrella name for a complicated array of interrelated companies offering investments to retail, institutional and high-net worth private investors, filed for receivership in June 2005 at the request of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

Quebec companies barred from bidding on public contracts have little chance of obtaining legal relief

Published by Luis Millán

Companies that have been barred from bidding on public contracts stand little chance of obtaining injunctive relief that would temporarily suspend a new law aimed at curbing corruption in the construction industry, following a closely-watched ruling by Quebec Superior Court.

A sad reminder that friendship and business do not always mix

Published by Luis Millán

“This case is a sad reminder that friendship and business do not always mix.” So begins a lengthy ruling by Quebec Superior Court Justice Geneviéve Marcotte recounting the sombre saga of a successful Montreal businessman, a former corporate lawyer and his wife.

It is a story about a friendship that turned so sour that Justice Marcotte ordered Earl Takefman, formerly chief executive officer of a number of public companies, to pay Montreal lawyer Elliot Bier and his wife $20,000 each in moral damages, $25,000 each in punitive damages and nearly $42,000 in extra-judicial fees incurred by the couple in the proceedings, together with legal interest.

Class action authorized against three accounting firms in Mount Real financial scandal

Published by Luis Millán

Nearly six years after 1,600 investors were bilked, left holding an estimated $130-million of worthless promissory notes when Montreal financial group Mount Real Corp. was shut down by the Quebec securities regulator, a Quebec judge authorized a class action against two former executives, two financial service companies and three accounting firms.