Law360 Canada ( August 16, 2021, 9:34 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the Pelletiers from the decision of a chambers judge granting applications brought by trustees in a foreign bankruptcy proceeding to recognize an order absolute in bankruptcy against the husband and a freezing order against the wife issued in the Cayman Islands in Alberta. The appellants moved their assets from Alberta to the Cayman Islands and now resided there. An Alberta company subsequently obtained a judgment against the husband and his holding company. An interim order of bankruptcy was granted against the husband in the Cayman Islands. The trustees also obtained a freezing order in the Cayman court against the wife’s assets. The holding company was placed into bankruptcy in Alberta. A court of the Cayman Islands subsequently granted an order absolute with respect to the husband’s bankruptcy. The chambers judge granted an order to the trustees in the Cayman Islands for the recognition of the interim order. The decision was not appealed. The chambers judge determined that the recognition of the Cayman order absolute was a logical extension of his previous recognition of the Cayman proceeding as being the foreign main proceeding for the husband’s bankruptcy. In the absence of new evidence, he found it would be highly incongruent to refuse to recognize the order absolute after recognizing the interim bankruptcy orders only weeks or months earlier. The chambers judge also pointed out that recognizing the Cayman order absolute in respect of the husband’s bankruptcy did not constitute a decision to recognize any bankruptcy or fraudulent preference judgment that might be issued by the Cayman courts. The chambers judge found that recognition of the freezing order was supported by the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the common law requirements for enforcing foreign non-monetary judgments, and the test for injunctive relief. The chambers judge held that recognition of the freezing order fell within the criteria in s. 272(1) of the Act because it was necessary to protect the debtor’s property and it was in the interest of creditors....