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ARTICLE · 23 MAY 2020

Superior Court Refuses To Certify $100 Million Auditor's Negligence Class Action

Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP
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In a decision released early this year, Mr. Justice Paul Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to certify a proposed $100 million class action against the former auditor of disgraced portfolio management firm.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Kenneth Dekker
Kenneth Dekker
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In a decision released early this year, Mr. Justice Paul Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to certify a proposed $100 million class action against the former auditor of disgraced portfolio management firm, Crystal Wealth Management Systems Ltd. Certification was denied on the basis that the Crystal Wealth's auditor owed no duty of care to holders of the units of mutual funds managed and sold by Crystal Wealth.

The proposed representative plaintiffs in Whitehouse v. BDO Canada LLP were former holders of units in mutual funds sold by Crystal Wealth – a discretionary portfolio management firm specializing in  alternative investment strategies outside traditional stock and bond portfolios. The plaintiffs alleged that Crystal Wealth's auditor, BDO Canada, had been negligent in issuing clean audit opinions to the Ontario Securities Commission and unitholders from 2007 – 2017 – a period during which it was alleged that the management

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