Law reform

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, ...

Directors’ identities, their home addresses, and more

With Australia having just closed its consultation on allowing company directors to have a director identity number (DIN), it is ...

Gift card reform – “a GIFT, not an investment”? or “there should be NO expiry EVER”?

Federal Treasury has closed its public consultation on an exposure draft of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Gift Cards) Bill ...

Bankruptcy Bills to become Law?

The draft legislation program for the Senate for next week commencing Monday 20 August 2018 lists, among other Bills, the ...

One year bankruptcy and other changes – updated and corrected

[commentary of 10 August 2018 corrected and updated as at 14 August 2018]. With parliament having resumed on Monday 13 ...

Insolvency and the environment – some law reform suggestions

While we await some pending developments in the areas of tension between insolvency law and environmental law, including the High ...

A government liquidator, and more

Problems arising from Australia’s lack of a government liquidator have probably been hidden for some years by the choice of ...

Winding up a collective investment vehicle – submissions were due by 10 August

The publication of the 2015 book Insolvent Investments, edited by Stewart Maiden QC (LexisNexis), may have been a surprise to ...

The cost of unlawful phoenix activity – yep ….

PWC’s June 2018 report on the cost of phoenix activity – The Economic Impacts of Potential Illegal Phoenix Activity – ...

Consultation on director identity numbers – responses by 17 August 2018

In the 2018-19 Budget, the Australian government announced that it would modernise the Australian Business Register (ABR) and the ASIC ...

A bankrupt’s travel overseas

Australia is on the outer internationally in imposing restrictions on those who are bankrupt from travelling overseas; they are required ...

New Zealand’s changes to its insolvency laws

Proposed changes to NZ insolvency laws through the Insolvency Practitioners Bill, presently before parliament, are open for submissions until 24 ...