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Case information

Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.


38733

Allen Tak Yuen Chan v. Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2020-02-06 Close file on Leave
2020-01-10 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2020-01-10 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2020-01-09 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C65247, 2019 ONCA 525, dated June 24, 2019, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2019-11-18 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2019-10-28 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-10-28 Allen Tak Yuen Chan
2019-10-18 Certificate (on limitations to public access), 23A -no limitations Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust
2019-10-18 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-10-18 Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust
2019-10-17 Notice of name Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust
2019-09-23 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-10-27 Allen Tak Yuen Chan
2019-07-31 Letter acknowledging receipt of a notice of application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENEND JULY 31, 2019
2019-07-26 Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), Bare Notice Allen Tak Yuen Chan
2019-07-26 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A Allen Tak Yuen Chan
2019-07-26 Notice of application for leave to appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2019-10-23 Allen Tak Yuen Chan

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Chan, Allen Tak Yuen Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Chan, Allen Tak Yuen

Counsel
Names
Adam D.H. Chisholm
Calie Adamson
Contact information
McMillan LLP
Brookfield Place
181 Bay Street, Suite 4400
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2T3
Telephone: (416) 307-4209
FAX: (416) 865-7048
Email: adam.chisholm@mcmillan.ca
Agent
Name
David Debenham
Contact information
McMillan LLP
2000-45 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1A4
Telephone: (613) 691-6109
FAX: (613) 231-3191
Email: david.debenham@mcmillan.ca

Party: Cosimo Borrelli, in his capacity as Trustee of the SFC Litigation Trust

Counsel
Names
Robert W. Staley
Jonathan G. Bell
Jason M. Berall
Contact information
Bennett Jones LLP
3400 One First Canadian Place
P.O. Box 130
Toronto, Ontario
M5X 1A4
Telephone: (416) 863-1200
FAX: (416) 863-1716
Email: staleyr@bennettjones.com
Agent
Name
Mark Jewett, Q.C.
Contact information
Bennett Jones LLP
Suite 1900 World Exchange Plaza
45 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1A4
Telephone: (613) 683-2300
FAX: (613) 683-2323
Email: jewettm@bennettjones.com

Summary

Keywords

Bankruptcy and insolvency — Civil procedure — Contracts — What standard of review applies to the interpretation of a plan of compromise and reorganization — Whether a judge has discretion to admit untranslated foreign language documents into evidence — Whether a party is prohibited from asserting that a transaction is valid to obtain some advantage and then assert it is invalid to secure some other advantage — Whether there are principles preventing multiple liability for the same loss.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Allen Tak Yuen Chan was the co founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Sino Forest Corporation (SFC). SFC and its subsidiaries carried on business primarily in the People’s Republic of China but maintained its head office in Ontario and traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In June 2011, a report was issued by a short seller’s research company alleging, amongst other things, that SFC significantly overstated its revenues. After investigating the matter, SFC advised the public that its prior years’ financial statements should not be relied upon. The Ontario Securities Commission ordered a halt on SFC trading and SFC defaulted on its obligations. In 2012, SFC obtained insolvency protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, RSC 1985, c. C 36. Later that year, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sanctioned SFC’s Plan of Compromise and Reorganization which included a transfer to SFC Litigation Trust its causes of action. In 2014, Cosimo Borelli, as trustee of the Litigation Trust, commenced an action against Mr. Chan alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted the action for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against Mr. Chan, awarding $2.6 billion in damages plus $5 million in punitive damages. A unanimous Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the subsequent appeal.

Lower court rulings

March 14, 2018
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-14-10684-00CL

Action for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty granted; $2.6 billion damages awarded plus $5 million in punitive damages.

June 24, 2019
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C65247, 2019 ONCA 525

Appeal dismissed.

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2025-02-27