Insolvency law – has corporate rescue gone too far? 30 April, Sydney Law School
The Ross Parsons Centre for Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law of Sydney University Law School is hosting a debate on the laws of insolvency and
28/04/2025
Family pets, family law and bankruptcy
In the division of family property on the breakdown of a marriage,[1] disputes between spouses about “companion animals” have been increasing, so much so that
10/04/2025
Safe harbour adviser becoming liquidator
A liquidator gave pre-liquidation safe harbour advice under s 588GA of the Corporations Act to a company. The company ended up in liquidation and he
08/04/2025
FEG v liquidators: remuneration priority over circulating assets
Problems regarding the priority of employee entitlements over the claims of the security holder, and the priority of the remuneration and expenses of a liquidator
07/04/2025
Appointment at the University of Sydney Law School
I am pleased to have been appointed to a Research Affiliate position at the University of Sydney Law School, in the Ross Parsons Centre for
04/04/2025
Reserve Bank report on insolvency numbers’ “little threat to financial stability”.
Increases or decreases in the number of insolvencies in Australia are used, particularly now, as some sort of political weapon indicating government economic mis/management, and
04/04/2025
The do-not-call register – penalties according to literature and history
In a long judgment concerning breach of the ‘do not call register’, where 1,102,318 calls were made to numbers on the register “which would have
02/04/2025
Personal insolvency numbers fall over 40% in five years
Numbers of personal insolvencies continue to fall. A projected 12,000 in 2024-2025 is likely compared with 21,078 five years ago. The numbers of personal insolvencies
31/03/2025
The new law’s limitations in controlling phoenix misconduct
I wrote the following commentary in February 2020, on the then proposed new anti-phoenix law, to assist the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in
26/03/2025
While some firms are “plunging into insolvency”, the numbers are lower or much lower than the long-term average
The Australian newspaper again most usefully reports on the numbers of insolvencies, this time in the building sector – and in strong terms: plunging, collapsing,
20/03/2025
Personal insolvencies in 2024 – well under half the numbers in 2018
Numbers of personal insolvencies in 2024, while slowly increasing, remain at well under half their number in 2018. There were: 2,794 new personal insolvencies in
08/03/2025
The worst is still to come! apparently
The Australian newspaper most usefully for some keeps a focus on insolvency numbers, this time in an article [1] that extracts comments from an insolvency
27/02/2025
Setting aside a personal insolvency agreement – on a tip-off
The Inspector-General in Bankruptcy has succeeded in having a debtor’s Part X personal insolvency agreement (PIA) of 1 March 2024 set aside pursuant to section
25/02/2025
Australia’s cross-border insolvency proposal
UNCITRAL’s Working Group V – Insolvency – met in December 2024 and among other issues had before it a proposal of October 2024 from the
24/02/2025
A suspended liquidator’s reinstatement – a Kafkaesque journey?
ASIC Professional Registers Search Details A search of ASIC’s Professional Registers shows that Peter Macks is now registered by ASIC as a liquidator. ============================= A
20/02/2025
Leroy and the [still] missing bankruptcy funds
The claim against former bankruptcy trustee Paul Leroy drifts on, with a mere ‘case management conference’ in the Federal Court that was set for 21
20/02/2025
Insolvency reform, phoenix misconduct – where to begin…
Insolvency law reform inquiries into phoenix company misconduct are happening or are proposed. Where are we to begin? Soon after the Productivity Commission (PC) proposed
17/02/2025
Australia on a slope? [continued]
My various comments about Australia’s standing in the world corruption stakes, below, go back to 2022 – Australia on a slide. Australia dropped 12 points
11/02/2025
Dramatic fall in insolvency numbers
The number of personal insolvencies fell by over 28% in the period July to December 2024, with big falls in construction businesses (down 17.2%) and
31/01/2025
The latest from AFSA – stats, regulation, advisers, debtors’ petitions
AFSA has issued its latest Personal Insolvency Regulator newsletter for January 2025 containing reports on Statistics – are numbers plateauing? Business insolvencies … Regulation –
30/01/2025
Small corporate business restructuring – Part I
This is a brief review, in two parts, of the small corporate business restructuring process under Part 5.3B of the Corporations Act. Some articles and
30/01/2025
Annual [2023-2024] personal insolvency statistics
Dividend payments to creditors in bankruptcies in 2023-24 averaged only 2.42c in the dollar. Registered bankruptcy trustees took in more than $253 million in receipts
22/01/2025
“Deliberate and ruthless” competition policy in action
The higher than usual number of corporate insolvencies in 2024 may indicate that healthy but tough competition, driving efficiency and productivity, is at work. In
21/01/2025
Ariff and insolvency practitioner regulation
It is interesting to compare the rather muted reaction to millions of dollars missing from three insolvent estates in Sydney with the extreme reaction, over
06/01/2025