Blog
What is “Decentralized Finance” and What are the Risks?
By: Aaron Grinhaus and Alex Di Giovanni Decentralized Finance (DeFi) refers to any financial activity, from applying for a loan to trading stocks, which is built using decentralized ledger technology. This is the same technology upon which Bitcoin and other…
Capital Gains Surplus Stripping: Is It Worth It?
By Aaron Grinhaus and Marisa Lau Over the last few years many professionals, including doctors, lawyers and small- to mid-sized business owners, have been taking advantage of a tax efficient way of withdrawing cash from their corporations called capital gains…
Buying a business? Don’t Sign Anything Before Reading This!
By Marisa Lau and Aaron Grinhaus Buying a business is a great way for an entrepreneur to hit the ground running by acquiring a going concern with existing clients, cash flow and infrastructure such as an office and employees. Buying…
Have you been named as an executor? Here’s what you need to know!
By Aaron Grinhaus If you have been named as an Executor in someone’s will you have a serious obligation that involves estates, tax, family, real estate and business law. Navigating all these areas of law can be tricky. Here are some…
What Are Crypto/Digital Assets And How Can They Be Taxed?
By Amanda Rosenstock and Aaron Grinhaus Thinking about buying or selling digital, or “cryptographic” assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies? Does your business already deal in digital assets? Regardless of whether you’re an investor or a business owner,…
Tools to Minimize Taxes in Estate Planning: Why Using a Will is not Always the Best Option
By Aaron Grinhaus There are many tools that can be used to minimize the MANY taxes that can impact how much your beneficiaries actually get after your death. For example, Joint Tenancy on Real Property is often used as an…
Can I make a Will when I don’t have any family in Canada?
By: Aaron Grinhaus If you live in Canada and hold things like bank accounts, real estate, investments or other valuable property, it is important to have a will. A will allows a trusted friend or relative (the Executor) know how you…
The Lay-offs are Coming! How to Deal with Dismissal or Termination in a Recession
By: Bryan Kravetz and Aaron Grinhaus Canada has experienced incredible economic growth over the last decade. That growth may now be coming to a slowdown, and if some of the major bank analysts and economists are right, Canada is heading…
Blockchain Year in Review: The Late, but not great, 2018
By Aaron Grinhaus As the sun sets on 2018, I hear echoes of what optimists have been saying about cryptocurrencies over the past several years, that they are to blockchain what email is to the internet: the first use case, but certainly not the only…
Cryptocurrency regulation in Canada: Hurry up and…wait.
By Aaron Grinhaus [This article originally appeared in the October issue of Payments and Fintech Lawyer (Vol. 12:10)] In Canada, as in other jurisdictions, the approach regulators are taking to the cryptocurrency environment has been highly criticized for being slow…