Headlines like: “How Europe is preparing for a debt disaster,” “The coming economic crash,” and “U.S. and U.K. on brink of debt disaster,” have caused financial shock waves felt around the world. The origin of the current crisis, the economic and political mess in Europe, has sent equity markets plunging worldwide. This has left many professional money mangers scratching their heads on how to allocate their clients’ money, and is even forcing some former “stars” right out of the business.

With this column, Canadian Lawyer InHouse welcomes Cheryl Foy, who will be writing a monthly online column about the issues facing in-house counsel across the country.

With the Canadian financial and banking sector now working in an increasingly complex legislative and regulatory environment, corporate counsel find themselves moving past the traditional role of trusted adviser and into the position of risk managers. Indeed, says BMO Financial Group general counsel Simon A. Fish, managing risk is a core part of his bank’s business model.

As Canada looks to be one of the first countries in the developed world to see an end to the recession, and businesses start to breathe a little easier, some changes implemented during the recession to make things more efficient are here to stay, say participants at the Canadian Lawyer InHouse/Association of Corporate Counsel roundtable.

One of the primary questions and search mechanisms on Facebook is place of employment. That’s right, if you were to log onto your Facebook account right now, or create one if you must, and type in your company name I’ll bet you can pull up a list of current and former employees.

 

The news of Canadian companies seeking bankruptcy protection, or making filings under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, seems to be almost a daily occurrence. While the world is gripped in what some have now dubbed as “the Great Recession,” Canadian laws covering financially embattled companies and individuals seem trapped in legislative limbo.