Cross-border and international
Australian High Court – special leave sought in bankruptcy Ponzi case – 139ZQ
An application for special leave to appeal to the High Court[1] has been made in a bankruptcy matter involving a ...
Insolvency services for sale
There seem to be some rather unhappy insolvency practitioners at the moment bemoaning the low levels of insolvencies – yes, ...
Trustee “entirely blameless” in his dealings with a mentally infirm bankrupt
While there is now greater training available in dealing with those suffering mental illness for professionals working in debt counselling ...
Why do we have preference recoveries in insolvency?
In finding that the ‘peak indebtedness rule’ did not in fact exist, the Full Federal Court[1] in Badenoch v Bryant ...
Electronic delivery of documents in insolvency law
Some belated concern has been raised about the potential for new corporate insolvency law allowing a winding up demand to ...
Insolvent trading convictions set aside on mental health grounds
Following convictions and imprisonment for insolvent trading arising from the 2009 collapse of Kleenmaid, its founder, Andrew Young, has succeeded ...
Licensing of insolvency practitioners – decision making principles from New Zealand [updated post 13 June 2021]
Mr Damien Grant, the New Zealand insolvency practitioner who successfully challenged RITANZ’s decision to deny him the right to practice ...
Why has the Australian government not yet decided on any further insolvency law changes for small business?
Australia MSE insolvency reform process seems to have halted, perhaps because of a poor reception to its January 2021 small ...
Employees’ loss of FEG redundancy payments through their misguided “acts of decency and loyalty” to assist
The AAT has described its decision confirming a lack of government assistance under fair entitlements guarantee (FEG) for “two dedicated, ...
Service of insolvency documents by email
With law well into the process of change to accommodate electronic communications and dealings, following COVID-19 in particular, we should ...
Is bankruptcy a life and death issue?
I was startled to be reminded of a regular question in the well-known US General Social Survey whether contemplating or ...
Costs against ASIC in its [“illegal phoenix activity”] claim against a liquidator
ASIC has been unsuccessful in resisting a costs order against it in its “illegal phoenix activity” proceedings against a liquidator ...
Peak indebtedness and other insolvency law views from New Zealand
The decision of the Full Federal Court in Badenoch Integrated Logging v Bryant[1] agreeing with New Zealand’s view about the ...
Deregistered companies – UK reforms and some Australian comparisons
The UK Insolvency Service is to be given powers to investigate directors of companies that have been dissolved, or in ...
Australia’s limited insolvency reforms for small business
With our international trading partners recently meeting to examine ways to handle micro to small enterprise (MSE) insolvency impacted by ...
Bankruptcy trustee independence
The Australian personal insolvency regulator and government trustee, AFSA, has produced a useful report – Practitioner Independence in the Personal ...
An insolvency safe harbour based on culture and tradition?
For years Australia had no ‘safe harbour’ protection for directors from insolvent trading. In 2017, one was introduced, then three ...
Australian lawyers attending UNCITRAL’s Working Group V on MSME insolvency – May 2021
UNCITRAL’s Working Group V – Insolvency is reconvening this week 4-7 May 2021, following its last meeting in December 2020. ...
World Bank insolvency principles – how does Australia compare?
The World Bank has released its updated Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (the Principles), emphasising the needs of ...
Penalties and bankruptcy
A person in breach of consumer protection laws concerning the hire of 4 wheel drive vehicles has been ordered to ...
The UK’s Technical Guidance for Official Receivers – a published resource for Australian practitioners and regulators
The Insolvency Service in the UK has issued an updated version of its Technical guidance for Official Receivers[1] in administering ...
Litigation representatives and bankruptcy
A daughter’s evidence that her mother’s litigation and bankruptcy proceedings had become her mother’s “entire life” with her house “full ...
NSW registered clubs (law) in trouble, again
What are described as the “arbitrary powers of the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA)” are the subject of ...
Virgin Airlines – special leave to appeal granted by the Australian High Court on a matter of the interpretation of the Cape Town Convention
Further to my report of 4 April 2021 below, the High Court of Australia has granted special leave to appeal ...
