Summary (Bankruptcy)
Overview
Bankruptcy, also referred to as insolvency in Canada, is governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and is applicable to businesses and individuals. For example, Target Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the second-largest Discount store|discount retailer in the United States filed for bankruptcy on January 15, 2015, and closed all of its stores by April 12. The office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, a federal government of Canada|federal agency, is responsible for overseeing that bankruptcies are administered in a fair and orderly manner by all licensed Trustees in Canada.
Trustees in bankruptcy, 1041 individuals licensed to administer insolvencies, bankruptcy and proposal estates and are governed by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Canada.
Bankruptcy is filed when a person or a company becomes insolvent and cannot pay their debts as they become due and if they have at least $1,000 in debt.
In 2011, the Superintendent of bankruptcy reported that trustees in Canada filed 127,774 insolvent estates. Consumer estates were the vast majority, with 122 999 estates.[1] The consumer portion of the 2011 volume is divided into 77,993 bankruptcies and 45,006 consumer proposals. This represented a reduction of 8.9% from 2010. Commercial estates filed by Canadian trustees in 2011 4,775 estates, 3,643 bankruptcies and 1,132 Division 1 proposals.[2] This represents a reduction of 8.6% over 2010.
- Duties of trustees
Some of the duties of the trustee in bankruptcy are to:
- Review the file for any fraudulent preferences or reviewable transactions
- Chair meetings of creditors
- Sell any non-exempt assets
- Object to the bankrupt's discharge
- Distribute funds to creditors
- Creditors' meetings
Creditors become involved by attending creditors' meetings. The trustee calls the first meeting of creditors for the following purposes:
- To consider the affairs of the bankrupt
- To affirm the appointment of the trustee or substitute another in place thereof
- To appoint inspectors
- To give such directions to the trustee as the creditors may see fit with reference to the administration of the estate.
- Consumer proposals
In Canada, a person can file a consumer proposal as an alternative to bankruptcy. A consumer proposal is a negotiated settlement between a debtor and their creditors.
A typical proposal would involve a debtor making monthly payments for a maximum of five years, with the funds distributed to their creditors. Even though most proposals call for payments of less than the full amount of the debt owing, in most cases, the creditors accept the deal—because if they do not, the next alternative may be personal bankruptcy, in which the creditors get even less money. The creditors have 45 days to accept or reject the consumer proposal. Once the proposal is accepted by both the creditors and the Court, the debtor makes the payments to the Proposal Administrator each month (or as otherwise stipulated in their proposal), and the general creditors are prevented from taking any further legal or collection action. If the proposal is rejected, the debtor is returned to his prior insolvent state and may have no alternative but to declare personal bankruptcy.
A consumer proposal can only be made by a debtor with debts to a maximum of $250,000 (not including the mortgage on their principal residence). If debts are greater than $250,000, the proposal must be filed under Division 1 of Part III of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. An Administrator is required in the Consumer Proposal, and a Trustee in the Division I Proposal (these are virtually the same although the terms are not interchangeable). A Proposal Administrator is almost always a licensed trustee in bankruptcy, although the Superintendent of Bankruptcy may appoint other people to serve as administrators.
In 2006, there were 98,450 personal insolvency filings in Canada: 79,218 bankruptcies and 19,232 consumer proposals.[3]
- Commercial restructuring
In Canada, bankruptcy always means liquidation. There is no way for a company to emerge from bankruptcy after restructuring, as is the case in the United States with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Canada does, however, have laws that allow for businesses to restructure and emerge later with a smaller debtload and a more positive financial future. While not technically a form of bankruptcy, businesses with $5M or more in debt may make use of the Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act to halt all debt recovery efforts against the company while they formulate a plan to restructure.
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- ↑ "Insolvency in Canada in 2006" Template:Webarchive: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (Industry Canada). Retrieved 2007-05-30.
