Case and statute law
A funded preference claim with no outcome for unsecured creditors
A preference claim of liquidators against the Commissioner of Taxation (ATO) under s 588FA of the Corporations Act was assigned ...
Family disputes and a lack of trust
Family disputes can be very unpleasant and perhaps in particular when they arise from family members being left out of ...
Coercive control claim in a bankruptcy
A woman made bankrupt in 2022 was unsuccessful in having her bankruptcy annulled under s 153B of the Bankruptcy Act ...
UNCITRAL Working Group V – Insolvency, New York, 13-17 April 2026
I am pleased to be again attending a meeting of Working Group V – Insolvency of UNCITRAL, in New York ...
Changes in directors’ duties over time – the Marquess of Bute to Star Casino
The 19th century decision concerning the Marquess of Bute, a director and president of the Cardiff Savings Bank, does not ...
Are costs “approaching $20,000” high in resolving a bankruptcy filing oversight?
In a creditor’s petition for a sequestration order, a consent to act of a private registered trustee had been signed ...
Liquidator’s 5 year suspension
In July 2023, I reported the cancellation of a liquidator’s registration by a disciplinary committee in relation to unauthorised drawings ...
Removal of a liquidator and referral to ASIC
A very long running claim by a liquidator for insolvent trading and other insolvency-based claims was defended on the basis ...
AFSA and Mr Leroy, and now Mr King
23 December 2025 The story below that Mr Leroy has been found is now added to by the Inspector-General in ...
Falling returns in personal insolvency agreements
In the end, the bankruptcy of Mr Hartnett following the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy’s challenge to his Part X personal insolvency ...
A controversial bankruptcy, from the archives – Alan Bond
The bankruptcy of Alan Bond in the 1990s generated outraged sentiment and language which we may not feel and use ...
A big bankruptcy
In explaining the consequences of bankruptcy for an individual, Keay’s Insolvency, 11th ed, [4.15] refers to the positive outcome for ...
Jailing for criminal bankruptcy conduct – in 2011
Both AFSA and the Australian Federal Police have issued ‘media releases’ about the sentencing of a lawyer to jail for ...
Confidential settlement of an insolvent trading claim – why?
It would be an act of both supererogation and superfluity to superimpose observations on this synthesis. The Federal Court has ...
A judge’s decision might be just “wrong” – no need to add “vituperative epithets”
In a recent patents law case, concerning veterinary pharmaceuticals, and processes for determining the novelty of a process the subject ...
Rolexes, three diamond rings and gifts forever – sentimental assets in insolvency
I have not updated my 2008 article on sentimental items of property in insolvency, including to check whether Rolex watches ...
Maybe we should just repeal s 588G – insolvent trading?
The law of insolvent trading under s 588G of the Corporations Act seems eternally unsatisfactory and always open to review. ...
UK Official Receiver appointed liquidator of Speciality Steel UK
On 21 August 2025, what is said to be the UK’s third-largest steelworks, Speciality Steel UK Limited (SSUK), has been ...
Former liquidator – $2.5m – 4/2 years jail
The long awaited, and long, sentencing decision of 13 December 2024 in respect of former liquidator Peter Amos has now ...
Despite the confusion, costs orders after bankruptcy are provable
It is not that common that Judge A will find that an earlier decision of Judge B of the same ...
Safe harbour adviser becoming liquidator
A liquidator gave pre-liquidation safe harbour advice under s 588GA of the Corporations Act to a company. The company ended ...
The do-not-call register – penalties according to literature and history
In a long judgment concerning breach of the ‘do not call register’, where 1,102,318 calls were made to numbers on ...
Setting aside a personal insolvency agreement – on a tip-off
The Inspector-General in Bankruptcy has succeeded in having a debtor’s Part X personal insolvency agreement (PIA) of 1 March 2024 ...
A suspended liquidator’s reinstatement – a Kafkaesque journey?
ASIC Professional Registers Search Details A search of ASIC’s Professional Registers shows that Peter Macks is now registered by ASIC ...