In re Sino-Forest Corp.

501 B.R. 655, 2013 WL 6154114, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 4979, 58 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 226
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 25, 2013
DocketCase No. 13-10361 (MG)
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 501 B.R. 655 (In re Sino-Forest Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Sino-Forest Corp., 501 B.R. 655, 2013 WL 6154114, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 4979, 58 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 226 (N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

Chapter 15

MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING MOTION TO RECOGNIZE AND ENFORCE ORDER OF ONTARIO COURT APPROVING E & Y SETTLEMENT INCLUDING THIRD-PARTY RELEASE

MARTIN GLENN, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

Before the Court is Ernst & Young LLP’s (“E & Y”) Motion to Recognize and Enforce Order of Ontario Court Approving E & Y Settlement (the “Motion”). (ECF Doc. # 18.) The Motion is supported by a Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Recognize and Enforce Order of Ontario Court Approving Ernst & Young Settlement (ECF Doc. # 19), along with the Declaration of Ken Coleman in Support of Petition for Recognition of Foreign Proceedings (ECF Doc. # 21), which attaches various orders issued [657]*657by the Canadian courts. Two joinders in the Motion were also filed: (1) Joinder of Foreign Representative in (I) Motion to Recognize and Enforce Order of Ontario Court Approving Ernst & Young Settlement and (II) Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Recognize and Enforce Order of Ontario Court Approving Ernst & Young Settlement (the “FTI Join-der,” ECF Doc. # 22), and (2) U.S. Class Action Plaintiffs’ and Canadian Class Action Plaintiffs’ Joinder to the Motion to Recognize and Enforce Order of Ontario Court Approving Ernst & Young Settlement (the “Class Action Plaintiffs’ Join-der,” ECF Doc. # 25). A Notice of Filing of Order of Quebec Court Permanently Staying Class Action Against E & Y was filed. (ECF Doc. # 26.) Additionally, the Declaration of Kurt J. Elgie Regarding Notice to the Class (ECF Doc. # 27), and the Supplemental Declaration of Kurt J. Elgie Regarding Notice to the Class (ECF Doc. # 28) were also filed. The Motion is unopposed.

Through the Motion, E & Y seeks entry of an order giving full force and effect in the United States to the March 20, 2013 order (the “Settlement Order”) of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the “Ontario Court”) in the proceeding (the “Canadian Proceeding”) of Sino-Forest Corporation (“SFC”) under Canada’s Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (as amended, the “CCAA”). The Settlement Order approves the settlement of class action claims against E & Y and implements a global release in favor of E & Y (the “E & Y Settlement”) under SFC’s plan of compromise and reorganization dated December 3, 2012 (the “Plan”).

This is the first time this Court has been asked to grant comity in a chapter 15 case to a foreign court order approving a third-party non-debtor release since the Fifth Circuit’s decision in In re Vitro S.A.B. de C.V., 701 F.3d 1031 (5th Cir.2012), affirming a bankruptcy court decision declining to grant comity in a chapter 15 case to a Mexican court order that included third-party releases. In a decision preceding the Vitro decision, this Court granted comity to a Canadian court order that included third-party releases. See In re Metcalfe & Mansfield Alternative Investments, 421 B.R. 685 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.2010). Metcalfe is almost on all fours with this case, and the Court concludes below that nothing in Vitro would require a different result here. Therefore, the Motion to recognize and enforce the Canadian court order is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 4, 2013, FTI, as Foreign Representative and Monitor, commenced this case by filing a Verified Petition for Recognition of Foreign Proceeding and Related Relief (the “Verified Petition,” ECF Doc. # 1). On April 15, 2013, this Court granted the relief requested in the Verified Petition and entered an order (the “Recognition Order,” ECF Doc. # 16) (a) recognizing the Canadian Proceeding as a “foreign main proceeding” under section 1517 of the Bankruptcy Code and (b) enforcing in the United States (i) certain provisions of the Ontario Court’s Initial Order dated March 30, 2012 (the “Initial Order”) and (ii) the Ontario Court’s Plan Sanction Order dated December 10, 2012, sanctioning the Plan (the “Plan Sanction Order”).

The Motion seeks the recognition and enforcement of the Settlement Order approving the E & Y Settlement, pursuant to which E & Y will pay CAD $117 million to resolve claims asserted against it in class action litigations filed by plaintiffs in Canada (the “Canadian Class Actions”) and the United States (the “U.S. Class Action,” and together with the Canadian Class Ac[658]*658tions, the “Class Actions”) on behalf of all persons and entities, wherever they may reside, who acquired any securities of SFC, including securities acquired in the primary, secondary, and over-the-counter markets (the “Securities Claimants”). Those proceedings were commenced against SFC and certain of its former officers, directors, underwriters, and auditors, including E & Y (together, the “Third Party Defendants”), on the basis of alleged misrepresentations in SFC’s financial statements issued before 2011. E & Y, SFC’s external auditor from 2007 to 2012, is a named defendant in the Class Actions.

In the course of the Canadian Proceeding, E & Y and the plaintiffs in the Canadian Class Actions successfully negotiated the terms of a settlement that is supported by substantially all constituents in the Canadian Proceeding, including the lead plaintiffs in each of the Class Actions. In addition, the plaintiffs in the U.S. Class Action filed a claim in the Canadian Proceeding, and Canadian counsel for the U.S. plaintiffs appeared on their behalf at the respective hearings on the Plan Sanction Order and the Settlement Order. The terms of the E & Y Settlement provide that following E & Y’s CAD $117 million payment into a settlement trust fund (the “Settlement Fund”) for the benefit of the Securities Claimants, Article 11.1(a) of the Plan will grant E & Y a global release and the benefit of certain injunctions under the Plan. E & Y also agreed to release all claims, including indemnification claims, it may have against each of SFC and SFC’s subsidiaries, officers, and directors. E & Y also relinquished its rights to any distributions under the Plan and agreed to support the Plan’s approval.

The Ontario Court approved the E & Y Settlement with the entry of the Settlement Order on March 20, 2013, and on June 26, 2013, the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed motions for leave to appeal the Plan Sanction Order and the Settlement Order brought by certain minority investors in SFC.1 Both courts specifically found that the approval of the Plan Sanction Order and the Settlement Order was consistent with a prior opinion of the Court of Appeal for Ontario establishing the requirements for third-party releases under the CCAA.2

The principal remaining condition that must be satisfied before the E & Y Settlement can be implemented is the recognition and enforcement of the Settlement Order in the United States. The Ontario Court expressly requested this Court’s assistance in implementing and enforcing the Settlement Order in this jurisdiction and has authorized E & Y to apply to any appropriate court for the relief requested.

A. The Plan

Article 11.1 of the Plan contains the agreed framework for giving effect to the E & Y Settlement.

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Bluebook (online)
501 B.R. 655, 2013 WL 6154114, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 4979, 58 Bankr. Ct. Dec. (CRR) 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sino-forest-corp-nysb-2013.