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 has backed away from replacing
17/10/2023
‘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 gender imbalance recommendation of the
14/10/2023
Voluntary administrators removed as NZ interim liquidators of debtor on independence grounds
Following the appointment by the New Zealand High Court of Australian voluntary administrators of Probis as New Zealand interim liquidators of one of Probis’ creditors,
14/10/2023
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 Accountability for Minimal Returns to
05/10/2023
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 standard liquidation process
28/09/2023
ACCC’s new penalty guidelines – some queries
The ACCC has issued new penalty guidelines – Guidelines on ACCC approach to penalties in competition and consumer law matters Three queries from my perspective One,
26/09/2023
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 concerning ‘Insolvency Professionals’, along with
26/09/2023
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 government, client. Despite marginal returns
25/09/2023
Australian voluntary administrators appointed as New Zealand interim liquidators
In Insolvency licensing bodies confirmed for New Zealand’s new regulatory regime – Murrays Legal, of August 2020, I explained the new liquidator licensing regime in
21/09/2023
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 to speak at the INSOL
17/09/2023
ASIC v Jones [GD Pork] – insolvency practitioner independence and pre-insolvency advice
A court decision concerning insolvency practitioner independence and pre-insolvency advice usefully raises issues recommended for law reform review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee Report on
01/09/2023
Penalising cartel conduct – BlueScope Steel: $57m penalty, net profit $2.8b
The Federal Court has fined BlueScope Steel $57 million for cartel conduct under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA), after attempting to collude
29/08/2023
Marginal annual increase in personal insolvencies said to be in line with high numbers forecast
There was a total of 9,930 personal insolvencies in Australia in the 2022–23 financial year – around 4% higher than the 2021–22 annual figure of
28/08/2023
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 program could not deliver value
28/08/2023
NZ Supreme Court confirms Mainzeal directors’ liabilities for over NZ$39 million
The Supreme Court of New Zealand has dismissed directors’ appeals from a finding that they must pay over NZ$6 million and up to NZ$39.8 million
25/08/2023
15 years for tax fraud – immoral and illegal
Mr Adam Cranston has been sentenced to 15 years jail for his involvement in conspiracies to deprive the Commissioner of Taxation of over $105m in
23/08/2023
ASIC v Bettles – case dismissed, with costs
ASIC has lost a major Federal Court proceeding brought against a senior and experienced liquidator, Jason Bettles, alleging that his conduct “constituted so gross a
21/08/2023
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 pre-insolvency advisers”. It is Part
17/08/2023
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 to offer and facilitate unlawful
17/08/2023
Sunlight on pre-insolvency advisers
Updated 14.8.23: While pondering the 2023 Parliamentary Joint Committee’s recommendations about pre-insolvency advisers, I am reminded to go back to some earlier comments that in
13/08/2023
UK personal insolvency reforms – summary of responses and next steps
In my comments of July 2023 following, I reviewed the 2022 call for evidence in the UK on reform of the personal insolvency system. The
13/08/2023
Businesses are rarely neatly arranged when insolvency strikes
While the government is thinking about the various recommendations of the PJC Report[1] about improving our current corporate insolvency laws, I have been trying to
10/08/2023
Updates to ASIC insolvency regulatory guides
ASIC is in the process of updating 4 of its regulatory guides on insolvency, in the next few months, and consulting on 2 new ones.
08/08/2023
“Record penalties” imposed … against insolvent companies
While much is made of the “record penalties of $438m” penalties imposed on the Phoenix Institute and related companies for egregious conduct in relation to
01/08/2023