Bryan C. Gibbons,

Bryan is a high-quality restructuring lawyer whose client base is composed of banking and financial institution clients. He is noted by sources for being "knowledgeable and practical with strong technical skills," and his  "responsiveness and attention to detail are exceptional." 

- Chambers Canada, 2023 Guide

In his over 30 years of practice, Bryan has regularly advised banking and financial institution clients with respect to loan restructuring, insolvency, realization and recoveries. In this capacity, Bryan is particularly adept at conceiving and implementing strategies for the recovery of defaulted loans and regularly advises banking clients in relation to significant portfolios of impaired loans.

Bryan has acted for Canadian Banks, specifically Bank of Montreal and HSBC Bank Canada, and private lenders in a wide range of insolvency matters including the completion and sale of an insolvent multi-unit development projects and bank employee fraud matters including the execution of Anton Pillar orders and Mareva injunctions, among many other matters involving debt restructuring, security realization, workouts, receivership and bankruptcy.

Bryan also acts for institutional lenders and other creditors with respect to reorganizations under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Bryan also acts for accounting firms in their capacity as bankruptcy trustees, receivers and monitors in reorganizations.

Bryan has represented various institutional lenders in diverse realizations from hotels and condominium developments to equipment dealerships and manufacturers. Bryan is also active in the firm’s Strata Property Wind-Up Group assisting strata corporations with wind ups pursuant to the Strata Property Act.

In addition, Bryan has also represented institutional lenders with respect to a variety of debtor fraud matters.

Bryan is the current practice group leader of the Insolvency and Restructuring Group. He is the past Chair of the BC Branch (Insolvency) for the Canadian Bar Association and a past Faculty member and Presenter for Continuing Legal Education (BC Law Society) respecting creditors’ remedies. 

• Canadian Bar Association, Insolvency Sub-section, British Columbia Branch, Past Chair
• BC Insolvency Discussion Group, Past Executive

• Chambers Canada 2023: recognized for Restructuring/Insolvency - Nationwide 
• Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory: BV Peer Review rated

• Acting for major Canadian bank with respect to the completion and sale of an insolvent multi-unit development project
• Acting for court appointed receiver manager of a large vehicle leasing company involving the tracing of missing vehicles and proceeds comingled by various corporate entities
• Acting for major Canadian bank in a receivership and securing the dismissal of allegations by the trustee in bankruptcy that the Bank participated in a conspiracy to defeat unsecured creditors
• Acting for major Canadian bank with respect to a bank employee fraud and the execution of Anton pillar orders and a mareva injunction
• Acting for receiver manager of a company involving a multi-million dollar fraud by the principal 
• Acting for lender in CCAA and receivership of a large Alberta-based real estate developer
• Acting for successful purchaser of a mixed use apartment/office/retail tower in B.C Supreme Court realization proceedings involving multiple rounds of competitive bids with sale confirmed by B.C Court of Appeal
• Acting for major Canadian bank in B.C Supreme Court receivership proceedings of an Okanagan Winery with an opposed stalking horse bid sales process and ultimate favorable result in B.C Court of Appeal
• Acting as western counsel for a national accounting firm as trustee in bankruptcy over an abandoned mine in Northern Canada involving one of the most expensive environmental remediation projects in Canadian history
• Acting for construction lender of a commercial strata development in Vancouver with significant construction delays, cost overruns and general contractor disputes. Successful in obtaining court orders placing the development project into receivership with disclaimer of pre-sale contracts and a stalking horse bid sales process
• Acting for a national accounting firm to run a sales process of a stratified mountain resort complex with the backdrop of hotel strata owners involved in dispute with the minority commercial strata owners owing capital expenditures for hotel complex upgrades
• Acting for developer of a failed real estate development on Vancouver Island and navigating the client through realization proceedings to successful conclusion
• Acting for major Canadian bank respecting a high performance athletic development centre and ensuing negotiations to sell facility to the local municipality
• Acting for major Canadian bank involving letter of credit facilities in favour of foreign banks which in turn had outstanding credit arrangements with the Canadian borrower’s foreign subsidiaries. Matter involving complex negotiations and security restructuring involving the foreign subsidiaries
• Acting for private lender against a real estate developer in realization proceedings. After lengthy negotiations, lender acquiring the shares of the restructured borrower to capture tax losses and then partnering with another developer of an adjacent site for joint venture development