Do old emails ever die?
A respondent car hire company being sued by the ACCC for unconscionable conduct has claimed that what the ACCC alleges were its intimidating and threatening emails sent to its customers have been deleted and cannot be retrieved. The Judge was not convinced. Judicial notice After hearing expert evidence as to the nature of emails and […]
A trustee’s interest in a bankrupt’s interest in trust property – Boensch v Pascoe
A seven member bench of the High Court was convened for the hearing in Boensch v Pascoe on 11 October 2019. It is an appeal from a Full Federal Court decision to the effect that a trustee in bankruptcy had a right to lodge a caveat over real property of the bankrupt held by him […]
The evolution of bankruptcy and insolvency laws and the case of the deed of company arrangement
This is a thoughtful and instructive article on the process of the historical development of the bankruptcy and insolvency laws in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. Its central point, as the abstract explains: “is to demonstrate that the process has been one of progressive liberalisation of consequences accompanied either by increased regulation […]
NZ insolvency practitioner costs recovery fees
The New Zealand government has released a discussion paper on proposed regulations concerning fees and other arrangements in preparation for the commencement of the co-regulatory scheme for insolvency practitioners in June 2020. Excluding the accredited bodies’ fees, proposed government fees payable by each insolvency practitioner are a new registration fee of $170, and an annual […]
Digital disruption is here but “progress towards a digital insolvency practice has to date been slow”
A recent journal article on the impact of artificial intelligence and its use by the insolvency profession has good and bad news – the good being as to the great potential for the use of AI in insolvency practice, the bad being the limited view of those benefits held by the profession. The article** is […]
‘A good idea’ – assignment of a liquidator’s recovery rights
A liquidator has transferred, with court approval, potential recovery claims to the ATO, as the major and only creditor in a liquidation. The law concerning assignment of claims is however said to remain uncertain despite changes made to facilitate such transfers. In the case in hand, the ATO is owed $5.4m. The company – Anatax […]
ASIC’s deterrence message – “no point just communicating this into the Fin Review”.
ASIC gave some useful insights before the recent Senate oversight hearing[1] on 13 September as to the reality of the effectiveness of its proposed and current enforcement measures, in particular by way of litigation as one means of promoting deterrence. Whether the recent increases in corporate sanctions will help is perhaps another matter. As was […]
Use of referees in insolvency litigation
Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court of Australia has called for a more proactive response from liquidators and trustees and their lawyers in pursuing insolvency litigation with a view to limiting the costs involved. He suggests more use be made of referees as one way of achieving this.[1] This is a part of a […]
ASIC’s period of external scrutiny
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is properly subject to parliamentary oversight, apart from the on-going scrutiny it receives from its various stakeholders. At least four items of parliamentary oversight are coming up in the next month or so. 13 September – the PJC on Corporations and Financial Services is conducting its regular “oversight of […]
Climate change and the law
Here are details of two recent events on climate change and the law, followed by details of a range of other issues covered by Murrays Legal associated with the environment, climate and insolvency case law and policy. A “hypothetical” on Climate Change: the Science and the Law Climate change and the law came in for […]