Samson Bélair Deloitte Touche Inc.

Conservatory Measures

What is a conservatory measure?

The Superintendent of Bankruptcy puts in place conservatory measures when a bankruptcy or insolvency estate needs protection. It might be in cases of Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) malfeasance or if serious wrongdoing on the part of a LIT puts estate files at risk. Conservatory measures may also be put in place if a LIT becomes ill or dies without a valid succession agreement. Finally, conservatory measures may be put in place if a LIT, for whatever reason, has allowed the administration of his or her practice to become substandard.

Canada

In the matter of:
Pfeiffer & Pfeiffer Inc.
Sydney H. Pfeiffer

Instructions for Conservatory Measures
(section 14.03 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act)

Whereas the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act provides the Superintendent with the general power to supervise the administration of all estates and matters to which the Act applies;

Whereas during the course of an investigation regarding the corporate trustee Pfeiffer & Pfeiffer Inc. and individual trustee Sydney H. Pfeiffer, the Deputy Superintendent (Programs, Standards and Regulatory Affairs), Alain Lafontaine, on July 5, 2002, with a view to protecting the estates, issued conservatory measures which notably enjoined financial institutions where, according to information given by the trustees, estate funds had been deposited, to make no debit, payment or transfer on funds credited to the estates administered by the trustees unless they be co-signed by a representative of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy;

Whereas, in light of the seriousness of the irregularities identified, the Deputy Superintendent, Alain Lafontaine, on July 24, 2002, issued a second series of conservatory measures which enjoined the Official Receiver to take possession of the bankruptcy and proposal files administered by the trustees and to deliver them to Samson, Bélair, Deloitte & Touche Inc., guardian trustee, which has since been ensuring their administration;

Whereas subsequent to the issuance of these measures, undischarged bankrupts where the trustee himself is discharged have expressed their desire to obtain their discharge;

Whereas the measures previously issued were not directed at files in which the trustees have been discharged;

Whereas in files in which the trustees have already obtained their discharge, there could remain certain actions to perform in order to complete the administration;

Whereas since the issuance of these measures, the trustees Pfeiffer & Pfeiffer Inc. and Sydney H. Pfeiffer are no longer able to administer new estates or to conduct transactions in the estate bank accounts;

Whereas the Superintendent of Bankruptcy may and must, for the protection of an estate, exercise the powers referred to in subsection 14.03(1) of the Act in the circumstances stipulated in subsection 14.03(2) of the Act;

Whereas the Superintendent of Bankruptcy has delegated to Sylvie Laperrière, Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs, in accordance with subsection 14.01(2) of the Act, in certain situations mentioned in subsection 14.03(2), his powers as specified at subsection 14.03 (1) of the Act, copies of which delegation are attached along with copies of subsections 14.01(2) and 14.03(1) to (4) of the Act;

In accordance with paragraphs 14.03(1)a) and b) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act;

I, Sylvie Laperrière, in my capacity as Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs, give instruction to:

Samson Bélair Deloitte Touche Inc., as agent of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, to take all the necessary steps to complete the administration of the estates and estate files that were administered by Pfeiffer & Pfeiffer Inc. and Sydney H. Pfeiffer trustees in which the trustees have already obtained their discharge, and namely:

  • To keep the property and records, deeds, books, documents, electronic data and bank accounts related to these files, to make an inventory of them, to preserve them in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act;
  • To complete the administration of these files in accordance with the duties and responsibilities incumbent on trustees in bankruptcy according to the Act.

These instructions take effect immediately and will stay in place until further notice or until a decision is rendered under section 14.01 of the Act;

In accordance with subsection 14.03(3) of the Act, these instructions bind their addressee, who must comply with them;

In accordance with subsection 14.03(4) of the Act, a person who complies with the present instructions is not liable for any act done by the person only to comply with them.

Signed, in the City of Sainte-Foy, Quebec, August 13th, 2002

Sylvie Laperrière,
Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs

This document has been reproduced as submitted by the delegate of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.