I am pleased to have received a copy of Corporate Restructuring, by Dr James O’Donovan, a 2,042 page book on the law concerning the ‘restructuring’ of companies operating a business.
In its 39 chapters, the book covers small corporate business restructuring, simplified liquidation, voluntary administration and deeds of company arrangement, schemes of arrangement, and associated issues, including employee entitlements, and cross-border insolvency. The standard ‘forms and precedents’ are added, along with appendices on GST, tax and anti-money-laundering issues. A list of academic and other references appears at the end of each chapter.
Restructuring an insolvent business is a relatively new approach, generally starting with US Chapter 11 in the 1970s, and adopted in Australia in 1993 with Part 5.3A of the Corporations Act. That Part has been refined by legislative amendments, case law and adoption of innovative processes.
Restructuring in its many and lesser forms is said to create a certain degree of distortion of the market by granting a competitive advantage to the business over its more efficient and compliant competitors. Hence its criteria for entry and access to the benefits of the restructure need to be soundly based. The book no doubt thoroughly explains the legal and case law details.
From a broader introductory perspective, the book gives a brief survey of the Australian economy and small business scene, citing mainly newspaper reports. Company liquidations have fallen over the years, suggested by O’Donovan as a result of the Part 5.3A regime, and perhaps leading to what is said to be a decline in Australia in the numbers of exits sufficient to allow enough new and more efficient businesses to enter the scene. Productivity is the new focus, based on “ruthless and demanding” competition, or supposedly so.
In the comprehensive insolvency law review recommended by the 2023 PJC Report, corporate restructuring will no doubt come under scrutiny – whether, for example, it has come too far, allowing companies to be put back into the market based on self-interested creditors having accepted their derisory number of cents in the dollar.
Among other merits, the book will assist in that anticipated review process.
Reviews of the book should appear soon.
Corporate Restructuring – Thomson Reuters Australia
One Response
Hi,
I am very interested in this book and would like to inquire about the author’s contact information. could you please advise on where i might be able to find it?
Thank you for your assistance.
kind regards,
Ethan Mottershead