Courts professions and regulation

Why didn’t someone do something? the obligation to whistleblow

There is a current focus on whistleblowing as being one means whereby unlawfulness can be controlled. But what can be ...

Dealing with MSE insolvency – UNCCA Australia

Earlier in December 2019, LLM candidate and graduate lawyer Samantha Pacchiarotta and final year law student Cassandra Heaslip attended Insolvency ...

New Zealand insolvency – accrediting the professional bodies

Public consultation in New Zealand is now open on a discussion paper on the minimum standards and standard conditions for ...

Small businesses and their financial difficulties – the Ombudsman’s inquiry

A discussion paper[1] issued on 20 December from the Insolvency Practices Inquiry of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise ...

Halifax – no reason why the NZ High Court should not physically sit in Australia …

The on-going matter of the Halifax liquidation came before Justice Jacqueline Gleeson in the Federal Court of Australia (FCA) on ...

MYEFO 2019-20 – ASIC, phoenixing and ‘journalists’

The government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook 2019-20 has these interesting items about access to ASIC’s registers, unlawful phoenixing and ...

Insolvency – some root and branch ideas

Does the government shirk its responsibilities in ensuring the proper operation of our insolvency regime by unloading the costs of ...

Anti-competitive conduct in the insolvency industry?

A new code of conduct for insolvency practitioners in Australia now proscribes illegal anti-competitive conduct, unusual for an industry code ...

Liquidator’s fees were too low

Adverse findings have been made against a liquidator by a disciplinary committee, one being that he accepted fees that were ...

Australia’s Official Receiver (in corporate insolvency)

Australia adopted much of English corporate law at the beginning of the 20th century but one thing it did not ...

Breaking a bankruptcy monopoly in New Zealand

There are moves in NZ to break the monopoly of the Official Assignee in personal insolvency by allowing private insolvency ...

New Zealand – corporate insolvency practitioner regulation

The New Zealand government has called for submissions on the proposed minimum standards and conditions for the licensing of insolvency ...

Cross-border insolvency – the Canberra session

I was pleased to have been involved with others in giving a presentation on UN Day 24 October 2019 to ...

Insolvency developments in the 2018-19 annual reports – ASIC, AFSA, AGD and ATO

Annual reports nowadays are more marketing publications as to various achievements of the relevant agencies and their compliance with statutory ...

Small business insolvency – the Ombudsman inquiry

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has established an inquiry into “the insolvency system” to report by February ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

‘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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Regulation of Australian insolvency practitioners – UK and NZ compared

I am pleased to be soon presenting to various groups on the regulation of Australian insolvency practitioners, with some comparisons ...

International Association of Insolvency Regulators’ Conference – 2019

Australia is attending and presenting at the annual insolvency regulators’ conference, along with regulators from the UK, the US, New ...