Christopher J. "Chris" Ramsay

When a corporate entity enters the zone of insolvency, many stakeholders are directly impacted: employees, management, trade creditors and lenders. Critical decisions have to be made by the board in real-time. Time is acutely compressed, payroll may be owing, creditors are pressing and deadlines are imminent.

Chris is recognized as a leading insolvency lawyer in British Columbia. He is able to calm the waters during these troubled times and develop strategies that give critical breathing room to allow constructive dialogue between a company and its stakeholders with a view to moving towards a common restructuring goal.

He is also one of the leading fraud and asset recovery lawyers in western Canada. He has been retained as counsel in many large international complex fraud cases and is one of only four designated Canadian members of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) FraudNet. He has over 25 years of experience in the investigation of fraud, the tracing and recovering of proceeds of fraud worldwide, and the implementation of recovery strategies retaining foreign lawyers, forensic accountants and other experts.

Work Highlights

North American Tungsten Corporation

• CCAA acting for the company

Catalyst Paper Corporation

• Acting for the senior bond holders

Huldra Mining

• CCAA acting for the debtor company

Chris represents diverse stakeholders in contentious insolvency and fraud matters, including acting for corporations, creditors, financial institutions, investors, purchasers of distressed assets, boards of directors and insolvency professionals. He regularly presents in the areas of fraud and insolvency and is a leading expert in Canada in the area of Ponzi schemes and investor recovery.

Services

• Insolvency and restructuring
• Corporate restructuring
• Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
• Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
• Cross-border insolvency proceedings, including Chapter 11 proceedings under the United States Bankruptcy Code
• Distressed M&A transactions, including board of directors for both the target and acquiring entities, and creditors including bondholders under trust indentures
• Multi-jurisdictional fraud matters
• Collections
• Commercial bankruptcies
• Receiverships
• Creditors’ rights
• Debtor protection
• Security enforcement

He has successfully guided countless companies through the often stressful and foreign processes of commercial insolvency, restructuring and fraud and asset recovery. He protects clients with strategy, strength and experience to help them move forward from the confines of their commercial challenges.