Australian small business insolvency law – a review
Several stars aligning at the end of 2020-2021 prompt this review of where Australia is at in the area of small business insolvency law. Small
05/07/2021
Regulatory penalties
Sanctions imposed by courts for breaches of competition or regulatory laws have to tread a line between being so severe as to put an otherwise
03/07/2021
Australian High Court – special leave sought in bankruptcy Ponzi case – 139ZQ
An application for special leave to appeal to the High Court[1] has been made in a bankruptcy matter involving a section 139ZQ notice demanding payment
01/07/2021
Insolvency services for sale
There seem to be some rather unhappy insolvency practitioners at the moment bemoaning the low levels of insolvencies – yes, unhappy because more businesses and
30/06/2021
Trustee “entirely blameless” in his dealings with a mentally infirm bankrupt
While there is now greater training available in dealing with those suffering mental illness for professionals working in debt counselling and bankruptcy,[1] it remains the
30/06/2021
Why do we have preference recoveries in insolvency?
In finding that the ‘peak indebtedness rule’ did not in fact exist, the Full Federal Court[1] in Badenoch v Bryant has also questioned the central
27/06/2021
Electronic delivery of documents in insolvency law
Some belated concern has been raised about the potential for new corporate insolvency law allowing a winding up demand to be served on a company
26/06/2021
Insolvent trading convictions set aside on mental health grounds
Following convictions and imprisonment for insolvent trading arising from the 2009 collapse of Kleenmaid, its founder, Andrew Young, has succeeded on appeal but on one
16/06/2021
Licensing of insolvency practitioners – decision making principles from New Zealand [updated post 13 June 2021]
Mr Damien Grant, the New Zealand insolvency practitioner who successfully challenged RITANZ’s decision to deny him the right to practice as a liquidator, is now
13/06/2021
Why has the Australian government not yet decided on any further insolvency law changes for small business?
Australia MSE insolvency reform process seems to have halted, perhaps because of a poor reception to its January 2021 small company reforms, described as a
12/06/2021
Employees’ loss of FEG redundancy payments through their misguided “acts of decency and loyalty” to assist
The AAT has described its decision confirming a lack of government assistance under fair entitlements guarantee (FEG) for “two dedicated, loyal, hardworking, long-term employees of
08/06/2021
Service of insolvency documents by email
With law well into the process of change to accommodate electronic communications and dealings, following COVID-19 in particular, we should expect some legislative consistency and
28/05/2021
Is bankruptcy a life and death issue?
I was startled to be reminded of a regular question in the well-known US General Social Survey whether contemplating or going bankrupt was something that
27/05/2021
Costs against ASIC in its [“illegal phoenix activity”] claim against a liquidator
ASIC has been unsuccessful in resisting a costs order against it in its “illegal phoenix activity” proceedings against a liquidator following Justice Greenwood’s earlier judgment
14/05/2021
Peak indebtedness and other insolvency law views from New Zealand
The decision of the Full Federal Court in Badenoch Integrated Logging v Bryant[1] agreeing with New Zealand’s view about the “peak indebtedness rule” that favoured
14/05/2021
Deregistered companies – UK reforms and some Australian comparisons
The UK Insolvency Service is to be given powers to investigate directors of companies that have been dissolved, or in our terms, deregistered, in order
13/05/2021
Australia’s limited insolvency reforms for small business
With our international trading partners recently meeting to examine ways to handle micro to small enterprise (MSE) insolvency impacted by COVID-19,[1] the Australian government –
07/05/2021
Bankruptcy trustee independence
The Australian personal insolvency regulator and government trustee, AFSA, has produced a useful report – Practitioner Independence in the Personal Insolvency System Best Practice Report
06/05/2021
An insolvency safe harbour based on culture and tradition?
For years Australia had no ‘safe harbour’ protection for directors from insolvent trading. In 2017, one was introduced, then three more, but a fifth has
04/05/2021
Australian lawyers attending UNCITRAL’s Working Group V on MSME insolvency – May 2021
UNCITRAL’s Working Group V – Insolvency is reconvening this week 4-7 May 2021, following its last meeting in December 2020. Australian lawyers are attending, remotely,
03/05/2021
World Bank insolvency principles – how does Australia compare?
The World Bank has released its updated Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor/Debtor Regimes (the Principles), emphasising the needs of micro, small and medium enterprises
26/04/2021
Penalties and bankruptcy
A person in breach of consumer protection laws concerning the hire of 4 wheel drive vehicles has been ordered to pay a large penalty despite
21/04/2021
The UK’s Technical Guidance for Official Receivers – a published resource for Australian practitioners and regulators
The Insolvency Service in the UK has issued an updated version of its Technical guidance for Official Receivers[1] in administering corporate and personal insolvencies. Australia
19/04/2021
Litigation representatives and bankruptcy
A daughter’s evidence that her mother’s litigation and bankruptcy proceedings had become her mother’s “entire life” with her house “full of stacks of paper” and
19/04/2021