In the summer of 2019, the York Regional Police arrested approximately nine people with alleged links to the ‘Ndrangheta, an Italian mafia clan. In an operation called “Project Sindacato,” the police raided various locations seizing 27 homes, 23 sports cars, 11 gaming houses, gambling machines, luxury liquors, jewelry, and cash. By the time the raids came to an end, nearly $35 million in goods...
On February 24th, 2021, a German court sentenced Eyad al-Gharib, a former member of the Syrian regime’s intelligence service, to four and a half years in prison for aiding and abetting the torture of civilians. The court stated that the defendant had arrested at least 30 anti-government protestors at the beginning of the conflict in 2011, sending them to a facility where he knew torture takes...
In Part 1 featured in Issue 8 we endeavored to explore on a high level the nature of SPACs and how they operate. In Part 2, we will be your guide through a select few current examples of SPACs on the marketplace. Feel free to jump ahead to a particular SPAC that’s interesting, or read them all – but in any case, be sure to note the common motivations behind creating the SPAC, as well as the...
What do Shaquille O’Neal, Occupy Wall Street, and internet pizza connoisseur Dave Portnoy have in common? Well, more than you might think. The GameStop saga, the growth of crypto and the recent proliferation of blank cheque corporations are all expressions of a much deeper cultural phenomenon bubbling underfoot. In recent weeks, the financial markets have dramatically re-entered the popular...
It has been ten years since the revolutionary high of the 2011 Arab Spring protests rippled across the Middle East and North African nations, underscoring the heavily fragmented nature of relations between rulers and the ruled. Despite the wave of protests that erupted in nations across the region, there were limited victories, and, to this day, the political and economic crises that fueled the...
Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, one issue still being litigated in family law courts is whether children should attend school in-person or via remote learning on Zoom. After about a semester and a half of law school via Zoom, you probably have strong opinions about virtual learning and whether it’s a reasonable alternative to in-person education or a dumpster fire. Parents...
What the international community can learn from one another As the clock struck midnight, it seemed that the international community was holding its breath for a new year. There were hopes that with a new year would come relief from rising case counts, ICUs pushing full capacity, and increasingly tighter lockdown restrictions. Nevertheless, much of the international community currently remains in...
The results of the People’s Climate Vote, a survey conducted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), covered over 50 countries and polled over 1.2 million people to assess public opinion on climate change. UNDP said that the poll was the world’s biggest survey ever of public opinion on climate change. It asked respondents if climate change was a global emergency and if so whether they supported...
Achievement unlocked. In January, Elon Musk clinched the title of the world’s richest person for a few days after surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Bloomberg’s billionaires’ list. Musk’s wealth skyrocketed by more than $150 billion in the past 12 months as Tesla’s share price surged 743 per cent in 2020. Tesla’s annual sales rose 36 per cent last year, and the world’s ‘buzziest’ enterprise...
Part 1 First, some context An initial public offering (IPO) or in layman’s terms, ‘going public’, is arguably one of the most important moments for any business and certainly one of the biggest pay-days for its founders and early investors. But what is an IPO? Put simply, an IPO is a manner in which businesses can raise capital through the public markets whereby shares can be bought and...
As the rise of self-directed retail investing increases with technological innovations and fintech, investors should remain increasingly critical of how their brokers are making their money. The saying, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product” is as relevant as it has ever been in the age of commission free trading. In Canada the most prominent commission-free brokerage is...
On January 27th, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the JLSA is inviting students to attend our event dedicated to the commemoration of Holocaust victims and the education of the atrocities under the Nazi Regime. The event will feature introductory remarks from Dean Mary Condon and Associate Dean Karen Drake. Our event will also feature a speech on the importance of Holocaust Remembrance by Irwin Cotler...
Stocks chosen for their adherence to environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics have been underperforming the wider equity market. ETFs (exchange-traded funds) focused on buying ESG stocks are performing at their worst levels since the summer of 2019, and short sellers are cashing-in. ESG investing has long been purported as a viable strategy to encourage corporations to move from...
Ant Group Co., commonly known as the proprietor behind Alipay, was set to mark an IPO record if its planned listing for November 5th on Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges proceeded. The name “Ant”, chosen to represent the fact that the payment-processing-platform will accept even the smallest payments, is certainly not representative of the firm’s latest capital raising arrangement. Ant has lined...
Introduction I often start my emails with the phrase, “I hope this email finds you well”. In the time of COVID-19, however, wellness has come to mean something entirely different altogether. On days where I feel ‘well’, I am clocking in 9-to-5 and mustering up the energy to turn on my camera for virtual classes. On days where I don’t feel well, I am rolling out of bed five minutes before class—if...
In the years to come, the rapidly changing climate is positioned to intensify existing threats and introduce novel threats to human health. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous concerns have surfaced regarding the capacity of governmental institutions to protect public health. The pandemic should serve as an example of the nature of infectious diseases that have the potential to reach a...
Walk-in legal clinics provide vital legal services to low-income, self-represented family law litigants in Ontario. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to in-person clinics. Osgoode is working with Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) to develop and implement the Family Justice Centre, a virtual legal clinic set to open in early 2021. Family lawyers from firms like Epstein Cole LLP will work...
A Federal Court judge ruled last Tuesday that the Canadian government will not be forced to go to trial for its contributions to climate change. In doing so, Justice Michael Manson dismissed a lawsuit brought by 15 young Canadians, aged 10 to 19 years old. These young Canadians had argued that the Canadian government was violating their Charter rights by not taking effective action on climate...
As a law student, you may have heard that certain statistics are skewed by the reality that many cases are settled instead of being resolved in court. While the benefits to settlement are numerous, it has the primary disadvantage of keeping in the dark a great deal of important data. Thankfully, the Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies (ISS), specifically ISS Securities Class...
End Sars (End Special Anti-Robbery Squad) is a social movement erupting across Nigeria, calling on the government to ban the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) division of the Nigerian Police Force, a division that has become synonymous with police brutality and oppression. The movement gained traction on Twitter in response to weeks of demands for reform over claims of harassment, murder...
The Covid-19 pandemic has raised a unique issue for separated or divorced parents. Now that public schools are open, should children go back to in person learning, or should they continue remote education? In a recent motion heard at the Superior Court of Justice, a mother sought an order that she be granted sole authority to make decisions regarding the education of her 9 year old son [W.C.]...
If you have heard about recent major stock splits in the news, such as both Apple and Tesla only months ago, you may be wondering what the effects of these are and their implications. While the term “stock split” may sound daunting, the fundamentals are rather simple. All companies have a total number of shares outstanding, and when a company decides to pursue a stock split, they increase the...
A company that wishes to offer its shares to the wider public and finally achieve what is often viewed as a company’s biggest milestone traditionally pursues an initial public offering (IPO)—but those times are changing. Both the state of a company when it goes public and the means used to achieve going public have been radically re-thought with the use of the special purpose acquisition company...
It can be no surprise that such an instant and dramatic change to the business landscape, via COVID-19, has caused certain firms to thrive while others sink. In addition to companies struggling to survive, people have struggled to make do: lost jobs, cut wages and unexpected expenses. This is not a reality for the companies that have best positioned themselves to thrive, whether by business...
On Sunday, Sept. 27, violence once more erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the long-disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a reserved territory located in the south Caucasus Mountains. As the ethnic and territorial hostility continues to heighten, the region has been thrust into uncertainty and on the edge once more in response to long-held claims over the land. The conflict dates back to...