CANADA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Carey Veinotte, Bojm Funt & Gibbons
Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction This can be challenging. It is often the case that litiga - tion can go on for years and the successful plaintiff is left with a dry judgment. In Canada, there is a general prohibition against pre- judgment execution. Canadian courts dislike meas - ures allowing a litigant to rummage around in the financial affairs of its opponents prior to a trial. Sometimes, however, information comes to light in the discovery phase of the litigation that can be immensely useful in execution after the obtaining of a judgment. Parties will often have pre-trial access to their opponent’s banking records, corporate tax records and property documentation as a natural con - sequence of discovery. There are also other pre-trial steps that can be useful. Searches Court Services Online (CSO) In British Columbia, CSO is an online database con - taining thousands of separate cases, organised and searchable in various ways, which is constantly updat - ed. The first two documents downloaded online are CAD6, but all downloads after that are free. BC Online For anyone with a credit card or BC Online account number, anywhere in the world, BC Online is an invalu - able online repository containing a wealth of informa - tion on many categories of property, including:
debt other than real property (ie, land or a residence). The lender will take out a PPR registration against the debtor’s assets, including vehicles and “all present and after acquired” property. Land titles Almost all provinces in Canada have a land title office (LTO), where originals of all official documents are stored on-site. LTO registrations are also available online. LTO searches can reveal key facts such as the value of the property assessed for taxes, and what other par - ties (usually banks) have mortgages or other encum - brances registered against title. Fraudulent conveyances and preferences Did the debtor take any steps to encumber itself to make itself judgment proof? In British Columbia, there is the Fraudulent Conveyance Act, RSBC 1996, Chap - ter 163 and the Fraudulent Preference Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 164. A fraudulent conveyance is a transfer to a third party to “defeat one’s creditors”. A fraudulent preference is not a transfer but rather “preferring” a third party over one’s creditors with the same intent – to avoid the consequences of a judgment; a sham mortgage, in other words. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Treasure troves of documents have emerged in the last five years. The ICIJ is a laudable organisation that has become invaluable to those in the field of prosecution or defence of international money laun - dering and business crime. Online, the ICIJ operates the Offshore Leaks Database, which exposes insid - ers in more than 810,000 offshore companies. The database includes the Pandora Papers, the Paradise Papers, the Bahamas Leaks, the Panama Papers and the ongoing Offshore Leaks investigation. Gumshoes Private investigators come in handy for surveillance. If there is the budget, having the principal of the tar - get surveilled, for example, can reveal further clues about the location of assets, such as unknown busi -
• Business Registry; • Business Search;
• Personal Property Registry; • Manufactured Home Registry; • Rural Property Tax; • Court Services Online; • Site Registry; and • Wills Registry. Personal Property Security Act searches
In British Columbia, the Personal Property Regis - try (PPR) is created by virtue of thePersonal Prop - erty Security Act, RSBC 1996, Chapter 339 (PPSA). These security instruments cover almost all forms of
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