Case and statute law
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
Independence of debtors’ chosen liquidators
If directors apply to the court have their company wound up in insolvency, or in fact support an application for
A deferred tax debt can remain due and payable
If a company owing a debt enters into an agreed payment arrangement with the creditor, that can serve to defer
Don’t be too harsh on non-compliant directors of failed companies?
The laws regulating the conduct of directors of companies in liquidation and laws regulating persons who go bankrupt exist in
Million pound fines for breach of insolvency standards
The million pound fining of an insolvency firm and its administrators by the English accounting body ICAEW illustrates the differences
A pointless distinction in corporate insolvency
In the 19th century, where much corporate insolvency law thinking still remains, a distinction was made between court ordered liquidations
Dangers in liquidators running a ‘skinny case’
” … it might not be seen to be unreasonable [for insolvency practitioners] to avoid expending funds producing affidavits in
All over a rooster
A bankrupt who claimed that noise attributed to her unauthorised rooster was in fact made by her peacock, which was
