Cross-border and international
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 ...
Boensch v Pascoe – High Court’s decision
The seven member bench of the High Court which heard Boensch v Pascoe on 11 October 2019 has unanimously dismissed ...
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 ...
Major corporate collapses and the public interest – British Steel and more
The collapses in the UK of socially and economically important enterprises – British Steel, Carillion Constructions and Thomas Cook are ...
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 ...
Halifax – a cross-border insolvency
A joint hearing of Australian and New Zealand courts is one way to deal with an intermingled cross-Tasman insolvency, through ...
Review of the CATSI Act 2006
The government has announced a review of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) which is ...
The Future of Australian Law Reform – the five top priorites?
The Australian Law Reform Commission released its report The Future of Law Reform: A Suggested Program of Work 2020-25 on ...
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 ...
Insolvency Law Bulletin – penalties, phoenix & preferences, franchises & offence reports
The latest issue of the Insolvency Law Bulletin (2019) 20(4&5) covers some very topical issues. The Halifax Investment Services matter ...
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 ...
Corporate phoenixing – a crime?
The Australian Law Reform Commission has released a Discussion Paper addressing a number of aspects of its reference on corporate ...
New Zealand insolvency reform – half a gift card
The New Zealand government has decided to give consumers with unclaimed gift cards issued by a failed business a priority ...
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 ...
Fair Entitlements Guarantee – powers to demand information
The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business’ Annual Report 2018-2019 provides some information about the Fair Entitlements Guarantee ...
A bankrupt and ‘one rooster, one peacock, three ducks, and 22 chickens …’
A person’s bankruptcy can arise from a host of circumstances, disputes with neighbours and non-compliance with local council requirements being ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
