No, not the Royal Commission – long delayed banking reforms
Long delayed banking and financial institution reforms are being addressed in a Bill to enhance APRA’s ‘crisis management’ powers in relation to distressed or insolvent
30/11/2017
An alternative to parliamentary debate on a one year bankruptcy
With changes in our bankruptcy laws being delayed in parliament by more important debates on our marriage laws, an alternative opportunity for public debate is
28/11/2017
Legal Editing – rules for the citation of court judgments
The following rules for the citation of court judgments are adopted by Murrays Legal Commentary. The need to publicise them in this article, and invite
28/11/2017
An economic perspective on trends in start-ups, and -downs
The federal government’s Innovation Statement of 2015 contained some simplistic aims for the promotion of entrepreneurial activity from proposed changes to our insolvency laws. A
28/11/2017
Insolvency related conferences and meetings – coming up
A list of insolvency and related conferences for the rest of the year 2017, into 2018 Insolvency Conferences and Meetings 2017-2018 Date Event Contact
26/11/2017
Farmers’ debts – ‘sit down at a table and work it out, and walk away, alive’
Preventing the appointment of receivers to ‘family farms’ and using farm debt mediation instead seems to be an idea that might come from the current
21/11/2017
Rationality and reason in decision making – or a roll of the dice?
The Hon Robert French AC will speak on ‘Rationality and reason in administrative law – would a roll of the dice be just as good?’
21/11/2017
Are accountants professionally restricted in advising directors on safe harbour?
A pending new publication on corporate restructuring contains these comments about Code obligations of insolvency accountants advising financially distressed and legally non-compliant businesses. Are these
17/11/2017
‘A one year bankruptcy or a 3 year debt agreement … what’s the catch?’
With Australia on the verge of introducing a one year period of bankruptcy, it is odd that no comparable reforms have been announced in relation
16/11/2017
“in a daily newspaper circulating generally”
Our ’21st century’ corporate insolvency courts have reintroduced a 19th century rule requiring liquidators and others to place notices in ‘daily newspapers’ which ‘circulate’, and
14/11/2017
‘WTF’ – five years of tax returns not lodged!
Upon being told in 2102 by his accountant, D, that his company’s business activity statements had not been lodged for 5 years, since 2007, the
13/11/2017
QUT Law Review – a special issue on personal insolvency
Australia’s current major bankruptcy law reforms are necessarily informed by a range of academic and professional input, from here and overseas. Papers from QUT’s major
10/11/2017
The legislative challenge of facilitating climate change adaptation for biodiversity
The need for our laws to facilitate increasing climate change adaptations for Australia’s biodiversity was the subject of the winning essay for the annual prize
09/11/2017
Safe harbour for directors of corporate groups? An UNCITRAL initiative
UNCITRAL’s Insolvency Working Group V is meeting in Vienna next month to discuss the preparation of guidance for directors of corporate groups in the
09/11/2017
‘If you want to take us on in court, go for your life because, guess what …’
ASIC may not have meant it but comments to the recent PJC inquiry about ASIC’s “transformational industry funding” may raise some concerns. Mr Medcraft said,
08/11/2017
ASIC and the PJC – hellholes, law enforcement, identity, funding, and more
Here are some selected snippets from the transcript of the PJC hearing oversighting ASIC, of 27 October 2017, the last for Mr Medcraft in his
07/11/2017
Guerilla tactics needed against phoenix misconduct
While the government is considering the various submissions on phoenix reforms, these quick thoughts came to mind, involving both government and computer selected liquidators, bankruptcy,
03/11/2017
Bankruptcy remuneration challenge referred to mediation – Groll
Justice Jennifer Davies of the Federal Court has referred bankruptcy trustees’ remuneration to mediation, following a challenge by the trustees to the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy’s
02/11/2017
A less than “radical change” to Australia’s court structure
Given the Attorney-General’s openness to “radical change” in the structure of Australian courts, one small but significant reform would be to revive the idea of
28/10/2017
Insolvency practitioner independence – a ‘fair-minded’ or ‘uncharitably-minded’ assessment
The most recent decision on insolvency practitioner independence confirms an ongoing trend of treating the fair-minded observer, whose view is determinative, of being more knowledgeable
28/10/2017
ASIC’s 2016-17 Report – insolvency practitioners
ASIC’s 2016-2017 annual report has been released. The following comments focus on the report’s comments on ASIC’s oversight of liquidators at pp 66-68 of the
28/10/2017
Shifting the Dial – not far enough for insolvency and phoenixing
The Productivity Commission’s report – Shifting the Dial – is a valiant attempt to move us out of the comfort zones of many assumptions about
25/10/2017
Our new insolvency law – how on earth did it all happen?
Australia’s new insolvency laws – introduced by the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 – are in place and the task is to understand and apply
24/10/2017
A History of Australian Legal Education, by David Barker
I was pleased to have attended the recent book launch of A History of Australian Legal Education written by my colleague Professor David Barker. The
21/10/2017
