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Securities Litigation

Strategic advice to navigate complex evolving securities regulatory risks and related litigation

Our Securities Litigation group is widely recognized as a leader in the field with extensive experience in complex, high stakes matters before the courts and securities commissions, including contested mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, corporate governance matters, securities regulatory investigations and proceedings, securities class actions and investment products litigation. Clients trust and rely on our team to resolve matters that threaten their business and reputation. 

  • Practical strategic and legal advice: Our lawyers have played prominent roles representing capital market participants in the largest and most complex securities litigation matters in Canada and contributed to major developments in Canadian securities laws in order to advance the interests of our clients. Our team also frequently represents clients in cross-border securities regulatory investigations and proceedings and collaborate closely with counsel in multiple jurisdictions.
  • Unique securities regulatory insight: We maintain strong working relationships with all Canadian financial and capital market regulators, as well as with numerous foreign regulators. Our practice group lead, Wendy Berman, also offers a unique perspective on the Canadian securities regulatory regime as the past Vice-Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission.
  • Integrated national multi-disciplinary platform: Our lawyers work closely with our Firm’s leading national Capital Markets, Securities Regulation & Investment Products, Corporate Governance, FintechCritical Situations and Shareholder Activism and ESG and Sustainability groups. We provide a holistic approach to navigating the evolving regulatory, legal and reputational risks in the capital markets. From the boardroom to the courtroom, our team provides seasoned expertise and creative strategies to mitigate and manage capital market risks, resolve the most complex matters and protect your business interests. 

We offer public and private companies (and their directors and officers), investment funds (and their managers and other stakeholders), investors, investment advisors, registrants and other capital market participants strategic advice in:

  • enforcement investigations and proceedings
  • proxy contests and shareholder activism
  • hostile and friendly take-over bids
  • securities class actions
  • mergers and acquisitions and other transformational transactions
  • shareholder rights, oppression remedies, derivative actions
  • dissent and appraisal remedies
  • internal investigations relating to allegations of corporate misconduct

Representative Matters

We have worked closely with major Canadian and international businesses and individuals in successfully navigating complex capital market disputes, including:

  • Cineworld Group plc in a precedent-setting M&A litigation relating to the termination of a $2.8 billion bid to acquire Cineplex by way of arrangement agreement.
  • Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in litigation and regulatory aspects of its $8.6 billion unsolicited bid for Inter Pipeline Ltd.
  • CannTrust Holdings Inc. and its independent directors in an internal and external investigation and related class actions involving allegations of misleading and inaccurate financial and operational disclosure, insider trading and breaches of federal licensing requirements for cannabis production facilities.
  • The CEO of Coinsquare, a crypto trading platform, in a securities regulatory investigation and proceedings involving allegations of market manipulation and whistleblower retaliation.
  • TD Asset Management, an investment fund manager, in defending allegations of closet indexing in the first common issues class action trial in Canada against an investment fund manager.
  • Glencore plc in a class action alleging oppression as a result of dilution arising from a rights issuance in the context of  a take-private transaction.
  • Pretium Resources Inc. in the first merits decision in a securities class action alleging inaccurate and misleading financial, operational and technical disclosure.
  • A major Canadian financial institution in a $1 billion class action involving allegations of price fixing of financial market instruments.
  • Successfully defending Benjamin Adhoot, a former executive of Amaya Gaming (now known as The Stars Group), in a cross-border securities regulatory investigation and proceedings regarding allegations of insider trading, tipping, market manipulation and fraud in advance of a $4.7-billion acquisition.
  • A Canadian bank in a securities regulatory investigation involving allegations of market manipulation and possible collusion relating to the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR).

Publications

Canadian Securities Litigation: Trends to Watch 2023

Canadian Securities Litigation: Trends to Watch 2023

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