Case and statute law
“Insolvency business is booming …” in the UK
Adrian Duncan was an insolvency practitioner in Australia years ago.[1] He now practises in the UK and it seems is ...
How much to regulate an Australian liquidator? a NZ liquidator?
While ASIC is currently taking submissions on its proposed funding charges for the regulation of Australian liquidators, and other groups ...
Liquidators’ remuneration – “most businesses do not charge out that way”
A Judge apologised at the start of his judgment for the length of time he took to determine liquidators’ remuneration. ...
A liquidator who stood to lose fees if his proceedings were not able to proceed
A company liquidator had unpaid fees amounting to $352,383 in his administration of a liquidated company – All Class – ...
Liquidator’s registration cancelled by ASIC
A company liquidator has had her registration cancelled following a decision by a statutory disciplinary committee that she had improperly ...
Insolvency litigation funding – too much hand-holding?
A joint parliamentary inquiry into class actions and litigation funding has set down public hearings throughout July 2020.[1] The inquiry ...
Leave to proceed against a bankrupt; but with questions about the legal representation
In an employee’s otherwise ordinary unpaid wages case the respondent employer went bankrupt mid- hearing and the employee’s legal representation ...
Who is an employee, and who is the employer? Common questions in insolvency administrations
Whether a person is an employee or a contractor, and if an employee, who is the employer, can be important, ...
Important rules in reviewing registrars’ sequestration orders
Chief Justice James Allsop of the Federal Court of Australia has written, both in his judgments and extra-judicially,[1] of the ...
Preferences paid by company under a DOCA – based upon a reading of the section
A company under a 2013 deed of company arrangement made payments to the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation. The deed was ...
Ponzi investors suing ANZ Bank for their losses
The ANZ Bank has failed to have struck out a claim against it by investors in what was the largest ...
Are industry and professional bodies’ disciplinary records protected from court scrutiny?
A liquidator had been the subject of disciplinary proceedings by ARITA in 2018. In later unconnected court proceedings, as a ...
Insolvency practitioner independence – law and practice
One of Australia’s insolvency bodies, ARITA, has issued a reminder to its members about the need for liquidators to maintain ...
A class action hearing ‘as inconvenient and tedious as this is going to be’ – COVID-19
Ford Motor Co has failed in having adjourned, for COVID-19 reasons, a class action hearing over its allegedly defective gear ...
Cryptoassets, hot and cold wallets, and a liquidation
Was cryptocurrency ‘property’ of a company in liquidation, and was it held on trust for the accountholders? Cryptopia Ltd (in ...
Case adjourned for COVID-19 health and property value concerns
A son’s claim under the ACT Family Provision Act 1969 sought a life interest in property of his deceased mother, ...
‘Unhappy’ delay in an insolvent winding up
A NSW Judge was ‘unhappy’ about delay in a solvency report being prepared for the defendant, in response to what ...
Reform of insolvency communications by email, and beyond
Corporate insolvency law in Australia concerning communications with creditors needs modernising, and well beyond what is available in 2020. When ...
New UK Insolvency Code of Ethics
A new version of the Insolvency Code of Ethics will apply from 1 May 2020 to all insolvency practitioners in ...
Three liquidators for three intertwined companies
A Judge appointed individual liquidators to three separate companies – OT, AGM and Ozifin – rather than a common liquidator ...
ASIC’s initial claim of illegal phoenix activity by a liquidator now the subject of a 160 page statement of claim
This post is further updated on 26 February 2021 to reflect that ASIC filed its statement of claim against Mr ...
Winding up a foreign company – Blumenthal’s Tipsy Cake
Tipsy Cake was wound up on 12 February 2020, having had provisional liquidators appointed on 20 December 2019, who then ...
Too much independence? a re-issue of my 2016 commentary
My analysis below of the law of insolvency practitioner independence, written in October 2016, is reissued in February 2020 in ...
A review of Australia’s insolvency practitioner regulation system
Given a choice between a good insolvency law and poor practitioners, and good practitioners and a poor insolvency law, the ...
