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LEGAL REPORT: INSOLVENCY cr CANADIAN A uniquely eative solution The process to restructure the asset-backed commercial paper market has required much give-and-take from all sides. BY HEL EN BURNE T T A fter many months of hard work, hearings, and recent setbacks, dozens of lawyers in- volved in the largest and most complex restructuring process in Canadian his- tory are preparing for the conclusion of a nearly year-long saga, dealing with numerous issues and questions along the way that have tested the limits of the Companies' Creditors Arrange- ment Act. The process to restructure $32 bil- lion in third-party asset-backed com- mercial paper began last September, as a pan-Canadian committee of inves- 58 JULY 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com tors, chaired by Osler Hoskin & Har- court LLP lawyer Purdy Crawford was formed to oversee the process, retaining Goodmans LLP as its law firm. Indeed, the difficulties for conduits or trusts that issued non-bank ABCP (short- term debt instruments backed by port- folios of assets like mortgage loans and car loans) began a month prior, when fears emerged over how much of the asset may be tied to the U.S. subprime mortgage market. As a result, the third-party ABCP mar- ket froze as buyers disappeared, affecting approximately 22 trusts and $32 billion in notes. A number of financial institu- tions soon met to work out a solution to