General
Professional ethics – Academy of Law Debates for 2017
A series of public debates on ethical conduct in the law, accounting and business was a significant contribution to this ...
Liquidator conduct appeals – how long should they take?
The hearing of a challenge before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of a Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board, (now CADB), ...
50 years of UNCITRAL – and recollections from Bob Ellicott
At a lecture celebrating the 50th anniversary of UNCITRAL – the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law – a ...
Part IX debt agreement reforms also off to a Senate Committee
In ‘A one year bankruptcy or a 3 year debt agreement … what’s the catch?’ I foreshadowed reforms to Part ...
Legislative drafting – 2017 reliance on a 1901 precedent
Modern Commonwealth laws still rely on 1901 drafting precedents despite changes in the law over the last 116 years. As ...
Vale CAMAC
Many will remember the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC), and its predecessor CASAC. CAMAC produced many law reform reports ...
One year bankruptcy reform – submissions due by 31 January 2018
The government has put off its announced one year bankruptcy law until well into next year, asking for submissions by ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
‘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 ...
“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 ...
‘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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
‘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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
