Safe harbour – some inherent behavioural issues to overcome
While the new safe harbour law[1] is the end result of some years of torturous debate, still on-going, it is also only the start of
09/08/2017
Liquidators – let employees know about their rights to claim on FEG?
Mr Merante was an employee of a company for 15 years, from 2000 until shortly after it went into voluntary administration and then liquidation, on
08/08/2017
Financial failure, bankruptcy and mental ill health – 2019
There can be a connection between a person’s mental health and their financial distress. In business, one can feed off the other, likewise in relation to
08/08/2017
“The human importance of bankruptcy”
The significance of bankruptcy and the need for its law to be clear and predictable is emphasized in a recent judgment of the Chief Justice of the Federal
07/08/2017
Black Economy Taskforce: Consultation Paper
The Black Economy Taskforce has released a discussion paper outlining a number of additional policy ideas which draw on its recent public and stakeholder consultations.
03/08/2017
Banking & Financial Services Law Association Conference – 31 August-2 September
The Banking and Financial Services Law Association is holding its annual conference in Brisbane on 31 August-1 September 2017, in Brisbane. Its pre-eminent judicial speakers
31/07/2017
Banks in [financial] crisis; dispute resolution; farm debt mediation, and more
My preparation for a major banking and financial services conference[1] has prompted this quick review of where Australia is at with banking and insolvency related
28/07/2017
Liquidators – have your “policies and procedures” handy, or “propose to put them in place”, soon
New section 30B of the ASIC Act allows ASIC to ask a liquidator to produce the ‘policies and procedures’ relating to external administrations and receiverships that the liquidator ‘has
26/07/2017
OECD report – “low personal costs to entrepreneurial failure with high barriers to restructuring”
Economic analyses of insolvency in Australia are strangely limited, given that a major purpose of an insolvency regime is its support of economic efficiency. Particular economic purposes
26/07/2017
An extraordinary legal imposition on our Immigration Minister
The Daily Telegraph is right this time, it was an extraordinary finding by a court,[1] to expect our immigration politician Mr Dutton to have “engaged
25/07/2017
Seven Network v Harrison – costs orders and bankruptcy
The circumstances of Amber Harrison flowing from the decision of Justice Sackar in Seven Network v Harrison[1] prompt this comment on how legal costs ordered
19/07/2017
International insolvency regulation – London 2017
The annual meeting of the International Association of Insolvency Regulators, IAIR, is being held in London, from 4 to 7 September 2017. Given its timing,
18/07/2017
England’s review of its insolvency code – independence, remuneration and more
The question of insolvency practitioner independence is important given the role of a company liquidator and bankruptcy trustee. Independence rules are being reviewed in England,
18/07/2017
NZ accountants’ new Code obligations, with Australia close behind
Accountants in New Zealand, including those who are insolvency practitioners, are from this week required to refer relevant breaches of the law committed by their
17/07/2017
Very leviable liquidators
In anticipating the funding bases for the government meeting ASIC’s costs of regulating insolvency practitioners (IPs), I wrote that there “should be some comfort taken from
17/07/2017
Melbourne Insolvency Forum Conference – Tokyo, Japan – 23-27 August 2017
An insolvency conference, said to be a Taste of Japan. There is a very good article in the International Insolvency Review entitled Appointing and Remunerating
13/07/2017
Director charades continued
After giving directors the benefit of protection from liability for insolvent trading, through the ‘safe harbour reforms’, the government has not required of directors that
12/07/2017
Protocol for International Recognition of Insolvency Proceedings Affecting Natural Persons
As INSOL International explains, this Protocol of June 2017 is a project that has been completed by members of the INSOL Small Practice Issues Committee.
11/07/2017
Getting rid of liquidators
While no-one in business likes losing a client or customer, usually, it happens all the time, as a matter of commercial choice. Insolvency practitioners –
10/07/2017
Advanced Business Law Conference – the major insolvency reforms: 3 October 2017
I am presenting at the Advanced Business Law Conference at the College of Law in Sydney on Tuesday 3 October 2017. My topic is what the
07/07/2017
Bankruptcy and mental incapacity
A son was obliged to ‘forum shop’ in order to assist his debt-laden father go into voluntary bankruptcy. The father had suffered a stroke leaving him with severe cognitive
06/07/2017
Law – a noble pursuit or a profit centre? The Australian Academy of Law’s second ethics debate
A lively debate between senior lawyers from the bar, the big firms, the regulator, and community legal centres was held on 20 June, with a
03/07/2017
Environmental and insolvency law – parallel appeals in Australia and Canada
Australia’s odd constitutional arrangements have allowed a State environmental protection law to prevail over Commonwealth insolvency disclaimer law, in Linc Energy Ltd (in Liq) [2017]
03/07/2017