Consequences Of Green v CIBC Take Hold In Timminco Class Action

The consequences of recent jurisprudence on secondary market class action limitation periods have recently manifested themselves in an unusual way in Pennyfeather v Timminco Limited ("Pennyfeather").¹ Pennyfeather is a class action for alleged misrepresentations affecting the value of shares of Timminco Limited (the "Timminco Action"). The Timminco Action was subject to the ruling in Sharma v Timminco ("Sharma"),² in which the Ontario Court of Appeal held limitation periods in secondary market misrepresentation class actions were not suspended by section 28 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 ("CPA")³ until leave is granted under the Securities Act.⁴  As a result of Sharma, the Timminco Action was statute-barred. After some criticism, the Court of Appeal overruled Sharma only to be reversed by the Supreme Court of Canada in Green v CIBC ("Green").⁵ The SCC majority confirmed that the Securities Act limitation periods were not suspended until leave was granted, though