Driving Innovation
Technology aimed at lawyers continues to change the way law is practised as those with deep subject-matter expertise recognize there’s a better way to service clients Mar 14, 2019 Berating the legal profession as lacking in innovative drive — particularly when it comes to technology — verges on the fashionable. But fashion passes, frequently into […]
Are big fund managers’ sizeable holdings in companies hurting competition? The Competition Bureau thinks it might
Common ownership by the likes of BlackRock and Vanguard in airlines and soft drinks sectors have led to higher prices and less innovation in those markets, one analyst says March 5, 2019 | 2:09 PM EST Canada’s Competition Bureau, following the lead of other international regulators, is investigating an increased emphasis on common ownership in […]
‘Vestige of the past’: Competition Bureau mulls scrapping ‘efficiencies’ defence in merger laws
Advocates had argued that the law was crucial as consolidation can be more beneficial than competition, but its value appears to have diminished in the digital economy April 30, 201910:51 AM EDT With the Competition Bureau poised to release new guidelines on the role of efficiencies in merger reviews, Canada’s unique “efficiencies” defence, which allows […]
Billions of dollars in taxes could go up in smoke as $13.5B judgment weighs on tobacco industry
Industry’s demise would hit nation’s finances, the revenue stream cigarette sales provide to Aboriginal people, and lead to a potential boom in illicit tobacco trade May 13, 2019 12:50 PM EDT A $13.5 billion judgment against Canada’s Big Three tobacco companies has forced them into the largest and most complicated restructuring proceedings this country has […]
New Competition Bureau commissioner targets telecom, pharma and infrastructure industry
The Bureau is in the final stages of hiring a chief digital enforcement officer, with the mandate to improve and modernize the regulator’s approach to digital enforcement May 23, 2019 10:44 AM EDT Less than three months after his appointment as Canada’s Commissioner of Competition, Matthew Boswell’s presence is already being felt. Boswell, a former […]
Don’t fall for the old ‘It’s standard’ line from a real estate agent. There’s nothing standard about their forms
Even when caught up in bidding wars, don’t rush it. You may end up signing documents that let the vendors off the hook for myriad issues July 18, 2018 If unaffordable prices, bidding wars and news that the real estate industry is supplying questionable statistics to the public isn’t enough, homebuyers must also deal with […]
Conrad Black wins $32.3 million loan case against the CRA
Entitled to deduct interest expenses on 2004 Quest loan he used to satisfy judgments against himself and Hollinger Inc. Julius Melnitzer | June 21, 2019 5:03 PM EDT The Tax Court of Canada has ruled that former media mogul Conrad Black is entitled to deduct interest expenses on a $32.3 million loan he used to satisfy judgments […]
Why parent companies may soon be unable to claim immunity from their subsidiary’s liabilities
A new look at corporate social responsibility June 25, 2019 12:51 PM EDT The corporate veil — the hallowed legal concept that separates the personality and liabilities of a parent company from that of its subsidiaries — is coming under attack as courts around the world struggle with the ever-extending reach of multinational organizations. While […]
Should employer-provided parking be considered a taxable benefit?
The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that an airport parking pass provided to a flight attendant by a commercial airline is an employee benefit for the purposes of income because he received “economic value” from the pass despite the fact that the employer provided it to improve its employees’ reliability and flexibility. “The established […]
Protecting Brands in North America
The USMCA, which is yet to be ratified, would affect several significant aspects of Canadian copyright, patent and trademark law and practice When and if the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is ratified by all parties, US attorneys and in-house counsel seeking to prosecute or enforce their clients’ intellectual property rights in Canada will notice its […]