Inquiries conferences and reports

Small business sole trader insolvencies

A recent newspaper report on the trend of insolvencies in small business was interesting for the reason that it acknowledged

AFCA financial compensation scheme of last resort

The federal government has announced [1] that a compensation scheme for victims of financial services misconduct will start from 2

Report on the Franchising Code of Conduct – and insolvent franchisors

Further to my comments of September 2023 below as to a review of the franchising code of conduct, that review

Offence referrals by liquidators

Offence referrals to ASIC by liquidators continue to be contentious and perhaps distracted by the issue of claimed automated decision-making

Personal insolvency figures – December 2023

Numbers of personal insolvencies in Australia continue to fall with the December 2023 figure down to 805 compared with 853

New corporate definitions of director, officer and asset

Following the ALRC’s work on Ch 7 of the Corporations Act, attention has already been given to legislative changes tidying

Corporations Act redrafting – ch 5?

Some years ago, I suggested to a Treasury officer that Ch 5 of the Corporations Act be redrafted and simplified. 

Insolvency statistics 2023

Each of our insolvency regulators, ASIC for corporate, AFSA for personal, has issued its statistics for 2022-2023 right on the

Bankruptcy statistics – more of the same

With the annual personal insolvency statistics for 2022-2023 not yet released, AFSA has released figures for October 2023, showing 951

Language please….!

“Finally on the subject of language, the Commission staff are not to be blamed for the archaic forms of syntax

Personal insolvency numbers – July-Sept 2023

With the annual personal insolvency statistics for 2022-2023 not due until December 2023, AFSA has released a quarterly report for

“Shock horror – insolvent people don’t have many assets”

While we wait for the useful annual statistics from AFSA as to dividend returns in bankruptcies in 2022-2023,* an insolvency

Insolvent trading in context

Insolvent trading is one of the many items for review recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee report on Corporate Insolvency. 

Annual reports 2022-2023: of ASIC – ‘a deliberate strategy of obfuscation so that the public is kept in the dark ….’? and of AFSA

ASIC’s ASIC Annual Report 2022–23 has been released amidst some recent severe criticism of the quality of its annual reports

Regulation of firms offering insolvency services

Further to my earlier post on insolvency practitioner (IP) regulation in the UK, and contrary to expectations,[1] the UK government

‘Masculinity contest cultures’, and gender imbalance?

Evidence before the Parliamentary Joint Committee inquiry into Ethics and Professional Accountability [1] (PJC inquiry) may assist in considering the

Insolvent Trading and Minimal Returns to Creditors in Liquidations

This is a brief response to a well-researched and thoughtful article by Associate Professor Mark Wellard – Insolvent Trading: Director

Some insolvency law reform ideas from Scotland and New Zealand

“ … the state is, effectively, paying insolvency practitioners to end the life of small companies … a sub-optimal solution

The cross-border regulation of insolvency practitioners – insights from INSOL Tokyo

I was invited to present at the INSOL International Academic Colloquium on 12 September 2023 in Tokyo on the panel

Public interest supports time extension for insolvency recovery action

Litigation claims brought by insolvency practitioners (IPs) are not like the usual commercial claims on behalf of a commercial, or

Cross-border regulation of insolvency practitioners – INSOL Tokyo – where are the government regulators?

This commentary has now been updated.  See The cross-border regulation of insolvency practitioners – Murrays Legal ============================================== I was pleased

The government halts its Modernising Business Registers Program after an independent review

The federal government has announced it will stop its Modernising Business Registers (MBR) program following independent review findings that the

PJC Recommendation – Pre-Insolvency Advisers – Part 1: summary

The full article on this topic of 1800 words, for those interested, looks that the PJC Report recommendations about “untrustworthy

PJC recommendation – pre-insolvency advisers – Part 1

The PJC Report on Corporate Insolvency 2023 has responded to concerns expressed about “untrustworthy pre-insolvency advisers”, those that are said