Roy O'Connor LLP is prosecuting a class action lawsuit against Transamerica Life Canada. This class action is brought by the representative plaintiff (Joseph Fantl) on behalf of persons who invested or purchased units in a number of segregated funds that were offered as investment options by the defendant, NN Life Insurance Company of Canada (or its predecessors) and subsequently Transamerica Life Canada.
The Plaintiff's Statement of Claim alleges that the Defendant made commitments or representations related to the Can-Am Fund replicating the performance of the S&P 500 Total Return Index on a best efforts basis. The Can-Am fund was available as an investment option through a number of different insurance policies offered by the Defendant. The alleged commitments and representations were either: i) express contractual commitments in the Class Members' written insurance contracts ("Contract Class Members"); or ii) representations (not contractual promises) contained in the "summary information folders" that were provided to Class Members in connection with their application for their insurance contract (Class Members for whom the alleged commitments and representations are found only in the summary information folders are "Misrepresentation Class Members"). The text of the court-ordered class definition is available for review at: www.canamfundclassaction.ca.
Proposed Settlement of Cloning Claim
Following a series of court decisions and appeals issued between 2013 and 2017 this action was certified (or approved to proceed) as a class action with Joseph Fantl as the representative plaintiff.
The Class was notified of the certification of this class action in 2019 and given the opportunity to exclude themselves (opt-out) from this class action. Anyone remaining in this class action following the close of the opt-out period agreed to be bound by any decision at trial or court-approved settlement in this action.
Following several years of additional litigation, including an extensive discovery process and a mediation before a retired judge, the Parties reached the proposed settlement summarized below. Click here to view or download a copy of the court-approved Notice of Proposed Settlement.
The Proposed Settlement
Under the proposed Settlement, the Defendant ivari has agreed to make an all-inclusive settlement payment of CAD $7 million. Compensation to Class Members (the "Net Settlement Fund") will be paid from the net amount of the $7 million sum remaining after payment of Class Counsel's legal fees and incurred expenses, settlement administration expenses, and payments owing the Class Proceeding Fund (including the Fund's 10% statutory levy).
In exchange for its $7 million payment, ivari will receive a full release of all claims and any potential claims that the more than 71,000 Class Members may have against it relating to their investments in the Can-Am Fund. The Net Settlement Fund will be distributed among the Class Members pursuant to the Distribution Protocol (defined below). If approved, this settlement will be binding on all Class Members who have not opted out of this class action, regardless of whether or not that Class Member received any share of the Net Settlement Fund pursuant to the Distribution Protocol.
Subject to the Court's approval, the Parties have agreed to the following protocol ("Distribution Protocol") to distribute the Net Settlement Fund. If this settlement is approved:
- No Class Member shall be required to make a claim or provide evidence regarding their individual allocation. Instead, each Class Member's relative share of the Net Settlement Fund allocated to a qualifying Class Member shall be calculated on the basis of that Class Member's records held by ivari.
For more information about this proposed settlement please contact Roy O'Connor LLP at:
Email: info@royoconnor.ca Tel: 416-362-1989