Relationships of a liquidator and conflicts of interest
A general purpose liquidator has been found to have had a conflict of interest because a former legal adviser to several of the companies in
30/12/2022
Repair and maintenance
The operating system of Murrays Legal is undergoing repair and maintenance, to address a slow-down in its usual thoughtful articles appearing in recent times. Readers
20/12/2022
Penalties imposed on debt agreement administrator for false and misleading, threatening and coercive conduct against debtors
ASIC has succeeded in obtaining penalties against A & M group for false and misleading threatening and coercive conduct against debtors who had missed payments
16/12/2022
Abolition of the AAT, and its insolvency law matters
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is to be abolished we are told and replaced by a new administrative law review body in 2023: see Government to
16/12/2022
The gender gap in insolvency
An article in the latest Insolvency Law Bulletin – The gender gap among Australian liquidators,[1] by Paulina Fishman – comments on the fact that only
14/12/2022
Insolvent assetless MSMEs – all but forgotten?
My commentary of October 2020 is re-issued, for readers’ interest. Does it matter that a company is insolvent such that something should be done by
14/12/2022
Rethinking Insolvency Practitioner Remuneration – Insolvency Law Bulletin
Had the decision in Re HRL Limited (in liq) [2022] VSC 693, allowing a “success fee” on insolvency practitioner (IP) remuneration, been handed down in
06/12/2022
The latest Insolvency Law Bulletin – remuneration, trading trusts, financial product collapses, gender, and more
In the latest issue of the Insolvency Law Bulletin, we have an article on a simpler solution to insolvent trading trusts, by Olivia Newman, of
06/12/2022
What is it about bankruptcy?
It was November 2015 that the then government announced a proposed reduction in the period of restrictions of bankruptcy to one year. No change was
28/11/2022
TIP – The Insolvency Portal
My 2022 versions of the Bankruptcy Act and the Corporations Act retain much of the process and procedure found in my 1914 edition of Williams
27/11/2022
Receiver’s demand for documents made on a bankrupt director
The New Zealand Court of Appeal has found that a director, despite being bankrupt, must hand over documents of the company of which he was
18/11/2022
PJC insolvency inquiry – deregistered companies submission
An early submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee inquiry into corporate insolvency from Mr Russell Morgan, liquidator, of 15 November 2022, has raised issues likewise
16/11/2022
A productive insolvency regime – who knows?
In the various calls for a holistic review of Australian insolvency law, there is little explanation of what exactly needs law reform attention – processes
15/11/2022
The Parliamentary Joint Committee and “small business insolvency”
The terms of reference of the current PJC inquiry into corporate insolvency refer at times to small business but given that small businesses comprise over
08/11/2022
NSW clubs and their insolvency appointments
The NSW Registered Clubs Act 1976 has a quaint provision – s 41 – providing that an insolvency appointee such as a liquidator or administrator
03/11/2022
Anti-money laundering laws – where are we at?
All bills before parliament before the 2022 election have lapsed. Hence, a pre-April 2022 Bill in response to a 2016 recommendation to introduce law to
31/10/2022
The several inquiries into ASIC
There are now several government inquiries into ASIC, directly or indirectly, perhaps indicating either the breadth of ASIC’s remit, or some concern about its work,
31/10/2022
Australia’s review of its corporate insolvency laws – updated
The hearing in relation to the law of set-off and insolvency in Metal Manufacturers Pty Limited Gavin Morton as liquidator of MJ Woodman Electrical Contractors
26/10/2022
Initial industry views on the parliamentary joint committee on corporate insolvency
While submissions to the parliamentary joint committee on corporate insolvency are not due until 30 November 2022, some indication of the views of those involved
23/10/2022
The annual reports of the insolvency regulators
Public sector annual reports nowadays are often more inward looking than in the past, agencies being required to report on a range of issues about
23/10/2022
Ownership is sometimes but not always as it seems – presumptions for, presumptions against, and evidence
A ‘wife’ has succeeded before the High Court in preventing the ATO claiming what it argued was her husband’s interest in the family home in
13/10/2022
International insolvency regulators’ conference – some current comparative issues
The International Association of Insolvency Regulators’ Annual Conference was held in England from 26-29 September 2022. Australia’s reported contribution to the conference and some current
25/09/2022
Corporate plans of the insolvency regulators
The corporate plans of Australia’s two insolvency regulators have been released – AFSA and ASIC In order to assist in understanding each report, this explanation
08/09/2022
Lawyers’ “grossly inflated” costs estimates
A Judge has dismissed a respondent’s application for security for costs that contained estimates that were “grossly inflated, far beyond the realm of what might
22/08/2022
