A discussion paper[1] issued on 20 December from the Insolvency Practices Inquiry of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman examines the financial difficulties
The seven member bench of the High Court which heard Boensch v Pascoe on 11 October 2019 has unanimously dismissed Boensch’s appeal [Boensch v Pascoe
The on-going matter of the Halifax liquidation came before Justice Jacqueline Gleeson in the Federal Court of Australia (FCA) on 18 December 2019, and jointly,
The collapses in the UK of socially and economically important enterprises – British Steel, Carillion Constructions and Thomas Cook are current examples – raise many
The government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook 2019-20 has these interesting items about access to ASIC’s registers, unlawful phoenixing and director identity numbers. Phoenixing The
Does the government shirk its responsibilities in ensuring the proper operation of our insolvency regime by unloading the costs of investigation, reporting and prosecuting as
A joint hearing of Australian and New Zealand courts is one way to deal with an intermingled cross-Tasman insolvency, through a letter of request process,
The government has announced a review of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) which is the law that provides for
The Australian Law Reform Commission released its report The Future of Law Reform: A Suggested Program of Work 2020-25 on 2 December 2019. The report
A new code of conduct for insolvency practitioners in Australia now proscribes illegal anti-competitive conduct, unusual for an industry code but no doubt included for
Adverse findings have been made against a liquidator by a disciplinary committee, one being that he accepted fees that were “significantly below the actual cost”
The latest issue of the Insolvency Law Bulletin (2019) 20(4&5) covers some very topical issues. The Halifax Investment Services matter is next in the Federal
Australia adopted much of English corporate law at the beginning of the 20th century but one thing it did not take on was the English
There are moves in NZ to break the monopoly of the Official Assignee in personal insolvency by allowing private insolvency practitioners to administer bankruptcies under
The New Zealand government has called for submissions on the proposed minimum standards and conditions for the licensing of insolvency practitioners under the Insolvency Practitioners
The Australian Law Reform Commission has released a Discussion Paper addressing a number of aspects of its reference on corporate criminal liability. Phoenix activity receives
The New Zealand government has decided to give consumers with unclaimed gift cards issued by a failed business a priority in the winding up of
I was pleased to have been involved with others in giving a presentation on UN Day 24 October 2019 to commemorate 25 years of cross-border
Annual reports nowadays are more marketing publications as to various achievements of the relevant agencies and their compliance with statutory and financial reporting requirements. The
The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business’ Annual Report 2018-2019 provides some information about the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Recovery Program which is now
A person’s bankruptcy can arise from a host of circumstances, disputes with neighbours and non-compliance with local council requirements being a significant one. The 2012
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has established an inquiry into “the insolvency system” to report by February 2020, focusing on practitioners, lawyers,
A respondent car hire company being sued by the ACCC for unconscionable conduct has claimed that what the ACCC alleges were its intimidating and threatening
A seven member bench of the High Court was convened for the hearing in Boensch v Pascoe on 11 October 2019. It is an appeal
