Government
Dear Parliamentary Counsel
The Commonwealth Integrity Commission Bill 2020 is important in many respects and some would see the following aspect of it …
Extension of the COVID-19 insolvency protections – what’s the real problem?
The Australian government has extended the monetary threshold of A$20,000 for the commencement by creditors of bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings …
New Zealand insolvency practitioner regulation – possible delay
The new corporate insolvency practitioner licensing regime in New Zealand, due to start in July 2020, may be put off …
Lost in my translation – correction to bankruptcy trustee remuneration statistics
AFSA has properly drawn to my attention that figures I have given about the remuneration of bankruptcy trustees have not …
How to best handle a major airline collapse
When a government sets up an inquiry into how to deal with the insolvency of a certain industry, the industry …
A regulator’s report on insolvency practitioner remuneration
Australia’s bankruptcy trustees receive an average of $4,800 in administering each estate, with 63% of estates paying no remuneration at …
The proposed reinvigoration of the UK’s business rescue culture through ‘recalibration of the balance of power’ – some steps too far for Australia?
A recent academic article from the UK has reviewed proposed restructuring reforms announced by the government in August 2018, although …
What has happened to the proposed beneficial ownership of shares register?
A review of the ASIC Annual Report 2018 by a parliamentary committee was tabled only in February 2020. The report …
The new law’s limitations in controlling phoenix misconduct
The new anti-phoenix laws, so welcomed in certain quarters, will come up against some business and personal behaviours that are …
Three year ‘imprisonment’ for bankruptcy debt
Australia has historically been seen as severe in its approach to unpaid debt and opposition to changing the 3 year …
Don’t be too harsh on non-compliant directors of failed companies?
The laws regulating the conduct of directors of companies in liquidation and laws regulating persons who go bankrupt exist in …
Review of Australia’s insolvency safe harbour – s 588GA
Australia’s ‘safe harbour’ regime under s 588GA is due for review, since September 2019, as to whether it offers the …
ARITA’s response to the Ombudsman’s small business insolvency inquiry
ARITA has offered a 60-page submission to the Ombudsman’s inquiry, which, given the quality of the inquiry, may be rather …
A liquidator disciplinary decision – some regulatory insights
A decision of a tribunal in Australia gives some insight into the insolvency practitioner discipline processes introduced in 2017, which …
The 2020 insolvency practitioner codes
New insolvency practitioner codes have issued in Australia, with the UK and NZ perhaps not far behind. It remains to …
Ombudsman’s insolvency inquiry and the nature of small business debt
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has written a newspaper article about the ‘Insolvency Practices Inquiry’ in the …
Insolvency R&B law reform ideas
While the ASBFE Ombudsman, ARITA and others are looking at insolvency law reform, including for SMEs, they will no doubt …
Insolvency data sharing and access?
A number of academics, including myself, made a submission to the Data Commissioner’s Data Sharing and Release Legislative Reforms Discussion …
New Zealand insolvency – accrediting the professional bodies
Public consultation in New Zealand is now open on a discussion paper on the minimum standards and standard conditions for …
Small businesses and their financial difficulties – the Ombudsman’s inquiry
A discussion paper[1] issued on 20 December from the Insolvency Practices Inquiry of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise …
MYEFO 2019-20 – ASIC, phoenixing and ‘journalists’
The government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook 2019-20 has these interesting items about access to ASIC’s registers, unlawful phoenixing and …
Review of the CATSI Act 2006
The government has announced a review of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) which is …
Anti-competitive conduct in the insolvency industry?
A new code of conduct for insolvency practitioners in Australia now proscribes illegal anti-competitive conduct, unusual for an industry code …
Liquidator’s fees were too low
Adverse findings have been made against a liquidator by a disciplinary committee, one being that he accepted fees that were …
