Inquiries conferences and reports

ASIC’s report on small business corporate restructurings under Part 5.3B

I am dubious about many of the outcomes touted for insolvency “restructurings”, or at least without the negative outcomes reported ...

Bankruptcy data 2021-2022 – rates of return, fees etc

At the end of 2022, AFSA quietly released detailed data on the operation of the personal insolvency system in 2021-2022.  ...

Business bankruptcies – 6,000 to 9,000 each year

Given that ‘small business’ itself is defined in various ways, none of which is based on the legal structure of ...

Failing fast … five hundred and something days to wrap up a business?

At the PJC inquiry into corporate insolvency, in the context of the 2015 Productivity Commission (PC) Report on Business Entries ...

Parliamentary insolvency inquiry – the business model of insolvency firms

Some fundamental issues about the operation of insolvency law and practice are being raised in the joint parliamentary committee inquiry ...

The gender gap in insolvency

An article in the latest Insolvency Law Bulletin – The gender gap among Australian liquidators,[1] by Paulina Fishman – comments ...

The latest Insolvency Law Bulletin – remuneration, trading trusts, financial product collapses, gender, and more

In the latest issue of the Insolvency Law Bulletin, we have an article on a simpler solution to insolvent trading ...

PJC insolvency inquiry – deregistered companies submission

An early submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee inquiry into corporate insolvency from Mr Russell Morgan, liquidator, of 15 November ...

A productive insolvency regime – who knows?

In the various calls for a holistic review of Australian insolvency law, there is little explanation of what exactly needs ...

The Parliamentary Joint Committee and “small business insolvency”

The terms of reference of the current PJC inquiry into corporate insolvency refer at times to small business but given ...

Anti-money laundering laws – where are we at?

All bills before parliament before the 2022 election have lapsed.  Hence, a pre-April 2022 Bill in response to a 2016 ...

The several inquiries into ASIC

There are now several government inquiries into ASIC, directly or indirectly, perhaps indicating either the breadth of ASIC’s remit, or ...

Australia’s review of its corporate insolvency laws – updated

The hearing in relation to the law of set-off and insolvency in Metal Manufacturers Pty Limited Gavin Morton as liquidator ...

The annual reports of the insolvency regulators

Public sector annual reports nowadays are often more inward looking than in the past, agencies being required to report on ...

International insolvency regulators’ conference – some current comparative issues

The International Association of Insolvency Regulators’ Annual Conference was held in England from 26-29 September 2022.  Australia’s reported contribution to ...

Corporate plans of the insolvency regulators

The corporate plans of Australia’s two insolvency regulators have been released – AFSA and ASIC In order to assist in ...

Oversight of deregistered companies

Company deregistrations for failure to return statutory forms and pay fees have increased from nearly five times the number of ...

Judicial Impartiality and the Law on Bias

The Australian Law Reform Commission’s 600 page report on judicial impartiality – Without Fear or Favour: Judicial Impartiality and the ...

Try to resolve unpaid debt early, and leave insolvency as a “last resort”

Each of AFSA, ARITA and Financial Counselling Australia has issued a statement calling for better processes for resolution of claims ...

Class actions and litigation funding – New Zealand law reform report

While Australia is in the midst of some potential change in the law about litigation funding,[1] the New Zealand Law ...

Insolvency practitioner remuneration revisited

International Insolvency Research Symposium.M Murray.RemunerationRevisited July 2022 – final This is a paper I gave at the recent International Insolvency ...

Association of Independent Insolvency Practitioners’ Third National Insolvency Conference

“Are you ready to rumble” in the insolvency jungle was the opening question at the Association of Independent Insolvency Practitioners ...

Insolvency practitioner [over]-regulation in Australia – an update

While the UK is reviewing its insolvency practitioner (IP) co-regulation system, Australia’s direct regulation, with minimal but expansive co-regulation, might ...

Who should pay for the costs of the administration of an insolvency?

A debtor in Australia pays no fee to have themselves made voluntarily bankrupt. If that does not seem odd, then ...