commentary
Too much independence? a re-issue of my 2016 commentary
My analysis below of the law of insolvency practitioner independence, written in October 2016, is reissued in February 2020 in …
by how much could we reduce white collar crime by imposing 30 year jail sentences? “Zero”.
The Honest Politician’s Guide to Crime Control never went into to a second edition, and it may by now be …
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 …
Ordinary course of post – seven business days not four
Section 160 of the Commonwealth Evidence Act 1995 is proposed to be amended to change the day when posted letters are presumed …
ASIC’s 2017 annual report – what to expect in insolvency regulation
Report 532 ASIC’s regulation of registered liquidators: January to December 2016 is a rather dense and detailed report which explains …
Contempt of court – “arguing for days on the exact length of the split in the hair”
Immigration law and policy and has been a contentious issue in Australia, with newspapers and politicians often infuriated by interpretations …
A safe harbour from our harsh insolvency laws?!
The “safe harbour” reform bill has been introduced into federal parliament to address directors’ “medium risk” of liability for insolvent trading. …
External dispute resolution and complaints framework, and “debt managers”
Whether or how to regulate “debt management” firms comes up in the government’s decision to accept all 11 recommendations of the …
NZ insolvency reform – gift cards, director identity numbers, voidable transactions, Ponzi schemes, and more
New Zealand does well in its insolvency law reform, partly assisted by not being a federation (no Linc Energy surprises), …
APES 110 – accountants, whistleblowers and safe harbour advisers to note
Increased professional obligations of accountants, and insolvency practitioners, to refer breaches of the law to the authorities, are being considered at …
Gift-cards resurrected
The 2016 “gift-card” report of the UK Law Commission examined whether there should be greater protection for consumers who lose …
Mental health and bankruptcy
The account of the bankruptcy of Sir Garfield Barwick and the personal impact that it had on him is a …
Law reform – a carve-out from directors’ insolvent trading liability, with a change in their culture in return
The draft ‘safe harbour’ provisions proposed by the government offer directors two advantages in what must be their genuine attempts …
ASIC’s industry funding model – draft laws
Drafts of ASIC’s Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2017 and related Bills have been released for comment, by 10 March …
The Law in the Insolvency “Law” Reform Act 2016
The law has not been given much attention in the recent CLE and professional offerings on the new insolvency laws, with their …
Egon Kisch and Albert Piddington
The name Egon Kisch may not be familiar to many but a recent talk given at an event held by …
Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 – more unpaid work for liquidators?
ARITA has reported that the ILRA 2016 imposes a significantly broader range of reporting obligations on liquidators than indicated in …
If there is little money in the winding up, the liquidator will have to cut corners he might not otherwise cut
Insolvency practitioners have the choice to take on a liquidation or a bankruptcy and therefore must accept that there will …
ASIC before the Senate – no more scalps, goodness will prevail; complaints in the “thousands”; and the ASIC database
Senate questioning of ASIC does provide some useful information at times. In the inquiry into ASIC’s 2015 annual report by …
Insolvency practitioners’ offence reporting
Although the government is trying to distance any connection between wrongdoing and a company going into liquidation or a person …
Review of the big banks
The Treasurer has asked the Standing Committee on Economics to inquire into and report on what is termed a Review …
The Halcyon Isle resurrected – the law applicable to maritime liens
In a case involving “an important issue for the operation of maritime law in this country” a 5 member bench of …
Liquidators riding a remuneration merry-go-round
The commentaries on how the judges assess, or should assess, the remuneration of liquidators is reaching saturation point, one practitioner likening it …
Hanjin Shipping – an Australian perspective
The appointment of a receiver to the large South Korean Hanjin Shipping Line has had an impact in Australia, with …
