Archives: Class Action Developments

Matter Concluded

This class action has been concluded. On September 12, 2018, a Consent Dismissal Order was filed with the court registry dismissing all claims.

A national settlement, totaling $3,350,360.95 has been reached with Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, and Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (collectively “Deutsche Bank”). The Deutsche Bank settlement has been approved by the Ontario and Quebec courts.

The contested litigation is continuing against the remaining defendants.

The plaintiffs in the Ontario action will be seeking to certify the Ontario action on behalf of a national class. At the certification motion, the court will determine whether this action is properly prosecuted as a class action. The certification motion has not yet been scheduled.

Motion to approve Settlement Agreement scheduled for September 21, 2018.

Class Counsel attended before the BC Court on June 25, 2018, July 4, 2018 and July 5, 2018 for the application to approve settlements with National Bank, Visa and Mastercard. The BC Court’s decision was released on July 13, 2018 and can be found under “Important Documents”. The hearings scheduled for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario were adjourned and have been rescheduled. The Quebec hearing will go ahead as originally scheduled on August 21, 2018. Please contact Class Counsel at [email protected] if you would like to receive information regarding the rescheduled hearings. The rescheduled dates are also be posted on this website.

Important Dates – National Bank of Canada, Visa and Mastercard Settlement Approval Hearings:

• BC Action – Vancouver on June 25, 2018 at 10:00 am
• Quebec Action – Montreal on August 21, 2018 at 8:45 am
• Ontario Action – Toronto on September 4, 2018 at 10:00 am
• Saskatchewan – Regina on September 5, 2018 at 10:00 am
• Alberta – Calgary on August 23, 2018 at 11:00 am

For a copy of the order, please go to Documents.

A settlement agreement  has been reached with the defendants Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft Canada Co./Microsoft Canada CIE (“Microsoft”). The settlement agreement obligates Microsoft to fund a claims process and class counsel fees to a maximum amount of $517,331,500 and to pay administration and notice costs in addition to that amount. The settlement represents a resolution of all disputed claims. Microsoft has not admitted any wrongdoing or liability.

Class Counsel attended before the BC Court on June 25, 2018 for the application to approve settlements with National Bank, Visa and Mastercard and are awaiting a decision from the BC Court. In the meantime, the hearings scheduled for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario have been adjourned. Please contact Class Counsel at [email protected] or [email protected] if you would like to receive information when those hearings are rescheduled. New hearing dates will also be posted on this website once they are available.

Settlement Distribution Completed

On June 15, 2018, the court approved an order finalizing the distribution of settlement funds in this class action. The settlement distribution has now been completed, and the matter will be discontinued once all of the distribution cheques have been cashed.

Settlements have been reached with National Bank, Visa and Mastercard.

The parties have agreed to a modified trial structure where the cases-in-chief will be exchanged in writing, followed by an oral hearing. Exchange of the parties written cases, expert reports, and pre-trial applications will continue through the spring of 2018.  The oral hearing is currently scheduled for July 9, 2018 through to January 18, 2019.  These hearing will be held in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver Courthouse, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver, BC.

Second Distribution of Settlement Funds

On September 6, 2017, the court approved the second distribution of settlement funds in this class action, subject to obtaining additional information for claims made on behalf of deceased class members. We will proceed to issue and distribute cheques shortly.

The Court ordered deadline to opt-out (exclude yourself) from the Class Action was May 10, 2017. If you are a class member and did not previously opt-out, you are legally bound by the results of the Class Actions, including the MOL Settlement Agreement if it is approved.

The Ontario court has certified this action for settlement purposes against three additional groups of defendants:

• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. (collectively, “Goldman Sachs”);
• JPMorgan Chase & Co., J.P. Morgan Bank Canada, J.P. Morgan Canada, JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association (collectively, “JPMorgan”); and

Citigroup Inc., Citibank, N.A., Citibank Canada, and Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc. (collectively, “CITI”).

A Settlement Agreement was reached with Compania Sud Americana De Vapores S.A. (“CSAV”) in July, 2016. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement CSAV agreed to pay CAD $450,000 for the benefit of Settlement Class Members and to provide co-operation to the Plaintiffs in pursuing their claims against the non-settling defendants. CSAV did not have any direct commerce to Canada of Vehicle Carrier Services during the relevant time period. The CSAV settlement had received the necessary court approvals.

Distribution of Settlement Funds

On March 9, 2017, the court approved the payout of settlement funds to class members in stages. The first stage will be to pay out all claims to class members who are sole owners (company or individual) of the licensed vessel. The first stage includes approximately 80% of the class members who submitted a claim form. We anticipate cheques will be mailed out by the end of March for these claims.

The second stage will involve paying out settlement funds to the remainder of the class members, including joint owner claims, disputed claims, deceased claimant claims, and claims which have other issues with the submitted form. For those class members who fall within the second stage, you will be receiving correspondence from CFM within the next couple months detailing your claim and requesting further information if required.

Examinations for Discovery were conducted in 2017 to 2018.

The Honourable Justice Boudreau heard the plaintiffs’ motion to certify the lawsuit concerning the crash of flight AC 624 as a class action. Justice Boudreau provided her oral decision to all counsel on December 13, 2016. We are pleased to report that the motion to certify was successful against all defendants. A copy of the Certification Order may be found under Documents.

On August 16, 2016, the Ontario court has certified this action for settlement purposes.