Illegal Soliciting Activity and Rule 49 of the Code of Ethics for Trustees

It has been brought to our attention that a company operating out of Edmonton called Canada Debt Leads (CDL) is using the Internet to collect data on financially troubled individuals (or "leads") and then soliciting their data to insolvency practitioners for a fee. It is then up to the insolvency practitioners to contact the leads to see if they would like to seek protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA).

It is the position of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) that CDL's data collection and soliciting activity is an offence under paragraph 202(1)(f) of the BIA. We have asked the company to cease their practice immediately.

The purpose of this notice is to advise you of our position on this kind of activity and to remind you about Rule 49 of the Code of Ethics for Trustees, which states the following:

Trustees shall not, directly or indirectly, pay to a third party a commission, compensation or other benefit in order to obtain a professional engagement or accept, directly or indirectly from a third party, a commission, compensation or other benefit for referring work relating to a professional engagement.

To our knowledge, CDL has only contacted trustees in the Edmonton area. Regardless, we ask that you communicate with the OSB office nearest you if you are contacted by the company.

Kind regards,

James Callon
Superintendent of Bankruptcy