Law reform
The elephant in the room of SMEs
It now seems that an old elephant in the room – about the misconduct of banks and financial institutions – ...
UK Crown priority in insolvencies to be restored
The UK government has announced in its 2018 budget that priority dividend payments will be made to the revenue for ...
Law reform obituary – CAMAC 1983-2018
The Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) was a corporate law reform body comprising individuals eminent in that field. It ...
Insolvency remuneration – time-charging, or better?
Lawyers’ fees in class actions were the subject of a recent conference[1] paper by Sir Rupert Jackson, given in Melbourne, ...
Voluntary administrations and the benefits, or otherwise, of board turnover
Research just published[1] has looked at the relation between board turnover and the likelihood that a company that enters a ...
Litigation funding – ASIC’s submission to the ALRC
ASIC’s submission[1] to the Australian Law Reform Commission on class actions and litigation funding seemed to be a surprise to ...
Senate inquiry into unlicensed debt managers, credit repairers and payday lenders
The Senate Committee inquiry into debt management firms comes at an odd time, given pending regulation of such services by ...
ASIC’s new insolvency ‘ROCAP’ – the Report On Company Activities and Property
The long history of the report as to affairs in corporate insolvency – the RATA – which started about 1890, ...
NSW Registered Clubs – insolvency law change required
Registered clubs all over the country get into financial trouble, sometimes requiring the formal insolvency processes under the Corporations Act ...
Competing with phoenix operators, rather than combatting – a goverment liquidator
The World Bank has come out with reports[1] that support the Australian government’s attempts to control unlawful phoenix activity, by ...
Unclaimed moneys in bankruptcies – the law reformed
Those who are owed “unclaimed moneys” arising from a bankruptcy – for example a creditor whose dividend payment went astray ...
The bankruptcy of Lehman Bros – a mere coincidence
Ten years ago, on 15 September 2008, Professor Rosalind Mason of QUT Brisbane and I gave a paper at the ...
NZ Insolvency Practitioners Bill – RITANZ submission
The submission of RITANZ of 7 September 2018 on the proposed Insolvency Practitioners Bill presently before the NZ parliament raises ...
Ordinary course of post – now 7 days not 4
Section 160 of the Commonwealth Evidence Act 1995 has been amended to change the day when posted letters are presumed to ...
Insolvency and trust law – a legislative solution is needed regardless of the High Court’s views
While the High Court no doubt gave special leave to appeal in Amerind under the statutory criterion of resolving legal ...
New Zealand insolvency practitioner reforms
Submissions on proposed major changes to NZ insolvency laws through the Insolvency Practitioners Bill, presently before parliament, closed on 24 ...
Bankruptcy statement of affairs
The bankruptcy office – the Australian Financial Security Authority – is asking for comment on a revised form of “statement ...
Keay’s Insolvency – a law reform launch
The recent launch of the new 10th edition of Keay’s Insolvency prompted some pointed comments about the current insolvency system ...
Major insolvency reforms for the UK – elements of US Ch 11 and schemes
The UK government has announced[1] major insolvency law reforms that would significantly advance the flexibility required for restructuring financially troubled ...
New family law court structure introduced into parliament
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill 2018 (FCFC Bill) and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of ...
Uniformity in corporate law – the High Court’s grant of special leave in Amerind
A comment in the Victorian Court of Appeal (VCA) decision in Amerind may not have found favour with Justice Gageler ...
Proportions of bankruptcies – a factor of 8.8 in Australia, but only 3.4 in England and Wales
While waiting to see if Australia’s parliament decides to introduce a one year period of bankruptcy, down from the current ...
Guardianship and bankruptcy – NSW law reform report misses the point?
A father who suffered a debilitating stroke left his son with the legal difficulty, in a quagmire of state and ...
UK’s “small proportion of bankruptcies where there has been misconduct leading up to the individual’s insolvency”
With the Australian parliament about to decide on the reduction of the period of bankruptcy from three years to one, ...
