ASIC’s review of offence reporting – RG 16
In response to the PJC Report, although a bit premature, ASIC is reviewing its RG 16, on offence reporting obligations, its consultation paper acknowledging many
13/04/2024
“Thousands and thousands of pounds have been lost …”
By way of an update to this post, on 11 June 2024 the Federal Court adjourned the 14 June case management hearing in Leroy to
09/04/2024
Bankruptcy and mental ill health
Justice John Logan of the Federal Court has raised some interesting issues in an otherwise straightforward bankruptcy judgment concerning the court’s ability to organise mental
04/04/2024
Small business sole trader insolvencies
A recent newspaper report on the trend of insolvencies in small business was interesting for the reason that it acknowledged that many or most businesses
08/03/2024
AFCA financial compensation scheme of last resort
The federal government has announced [1] that a compensation scheme for victims of financial services misconduct will start from 2 April 2024, including a Compensation
05/03/2024
Insolvency practitioners as employees
Updated on 5 March 2024 to refer to a 1996 Explanatory Memorandum in bankruptcy which says that, despite the case law, a person’s status as an
05/03/2024
Insolvency Practitioner Registration and Disciplinary Committees
I am pleased to have been appointed by the government as a part‑time member to the Ministerial pool for the Corporate Insolvency Practitioner Registration and
29/02/2024
Report on the Franchising Code of Conduct – and insolvent franchisors
Further to my comments of September 2023 below as to a review of the franchising code of conduct, that review has been completed and on
08/02/2024
Offence referrals by liquidators
Offence referrals to ASIC by liquidators continue to be contentious and perhaps distracted by the issue of claimed automated decision-making by ASIC itself, although the
07/02/2024
Cancellation of a bankruptcy trustee’s registration and freezing orders obtained
The registration of Australian bankruptcy trustee Mr Paul Leroy was cancelled by the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy (IGB) on 2 February 2024, effective from 5 February.
06/02/2024
Punishment for bankruptcy – wearing a yellow and brown bonnet in the public square
A recent book, Re-examining insolvency law and theory – perspectives for the 21st century, comprises chapters on a wide range of theoretical perspectives on insolvency
01/02/2024
Personal insolvency figures – December 2023
Numbers of personal insolvencies in Australia continue to fall with the December 2023 figure down to 805 compared with 853 in November 2023. However, December
01/02/2024
New corporate definitions of director, officer and asset
Following the ALRC’s work on Ch 7 of the Corporations Act, attention has already been given to legislative changes tidying up the Act across a
01/02/2024
Corporations Act redrafting – ch 5?
Some years ago, I suggested to a Treasury officer that Ch 5 of the Corporations Act be redrafted and simplified. The curt response was, “you
23/01/2024
The new Administrative Review Tribunal and law for the relief of insolvent debtors
On 7 December 2023, the government introduced legislation that would abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and establish what it terms “a new, fit-for purpose
03/01/2024
A winding up vs an administration – s 440A(2)
The situation where a creditor applies for a winding up of a company under the Corporations Act, and while that is pending, the directors appoint
30/12/2023
Insolvency statistics 2023
Each of our insolvency regulators, ASIC for corporate, AFSA for personal, has issued its statistics for 2022-2023 right on the eve of Christmas,[1] each presenting
30/12/2023
Law reform – small business redundancy exemption removed
Among the many changes introduced by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023 are those in Schedule 1 Part 2 that address the
29/12/2023
The AFCA financial complaints scheme and bankruptcy – no appeal
Further to my case comment below, AFSA has, belatedly, advised that it is not appealing this decision of Justice Rares of 11 October 2023. Nevertheless,
24/12/2023
NOCLAR – accountants’ reporting of offences
Some while ago, I took an interest in the professional obligation that accountants decided to impose on themselves to respond to and as necessary refer
04/12/2023
Bankruptcy statistics – more of the same
With the annual personal insolvency statistics for 2022-2023 not yet released, AFSA has released figures for October 2023, showing 951 new personal insolvencies, falling marginally
01/12/2023
NZ insolvency practitioner sanctioned
A sanction of a New Zealand liquidator for the poor handling of his matters provides an illustration of New Zealand’s relatively new licensing and co-regulation
01/12/2023
Language please….!
“Finally on the subject of language, the Commission staff are not to be blamed for the archaic forms of syntax “a number of people was”
28/11/2023
Personal insolvency numbers – July-Sept 2023
With the annual personal insolvency statistics for 2022-2023 not due until December 2023, AFSA has released a quarterly report for the July-September quarter 2023, showing
27/11/2023
