The prospect of litigation can be daunting for individuals and
businesses unfamiliar with Court proceedings. Even for
sophisticated businesspeople, litigation can be made unpleasant by
the conduct of counterparties. This is especially true when the
other side breaks the rules.
In the recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision SS&C
Technologies Canada Corp v Bank of New York Mellon Corporation,
2024 ONCA 675 (“SS&C” and “BNY”
respectively) BNY did exactly that. In 1999, SS&C, a behemoth
in the financial software and fund administration industry, agreed
to provide market pricing data to BNY, a large American bank. Over
a number of years, BNY merged and acquired various other
banking-related businesses and shared SS&C's data with
them and other affiliated companies. Upon learning that BNY was
sharing its market data in breach of their agreement,
SS&C's lawyers wrote to BNY's senior executives,
advising them of the anticipated litigation over the issue and
requesting they
