In the case of Royal Bank of Canada v. Ankur Rastogi[1] , the Ontario Court of Appeal held that RBC could not freeze the accounts of its client at its subsidiary, RBC Direct Investing, pending the determination of its lawsuit against the client. It further held that funds being held by another financial institution pursuant [...]

Full article

In its decision released last Fall in Davy Estate v. CIBC World Markets Inc. , the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed an Ontario Superior Court order striking out a third party claim in which the defendant had tried to sue the plaintiff’s lawyer. The third party claim had alleged that the plaintiff’s lawyer had given the plaintiff bad advice on the mitigation of her damages. In addition to finding that the third party claim against the plaintiff’s lawyer could not succeed at law, the Court of Appeal also cited policy reasons against permitting one party to sue another party’s lawyer for alleged negligence; noting that such claims undermine a lawyer’s loyalty to their client and invade the sanctity of the lawyer-client relationship.

Full article

There are few, if any, legal issues affecting the investment industry that are more cloudy and less certain than whether investment firm clients belong to the investment advisor or to the investment firm. And there are arguably few issues more important. This question has been the subject of several widely divergent – and even confusing – court decisions on the issue over the past few years.

Full article

Canada’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of Canada’s first-ever securities class action judgment in favour of investors relating to alleged misrepresentations on an initial public offering.

Full article

If investors borrow money to invest in mutual funds, and the funds do not perform up to expectations, are the lending financial institutions on the hook? This question was the subject of the recent Court of Appeal decision in Baldwin et al. v. Daubrey et al.

Full article