Law reform

Advanced Business Law Conference – the major insolvency reforms: 3 October 2017

I am presenting at the Advanced Business Law Conference at the College of Law in Sydney on Tuesday 3 October 2017.

Bankruptcy and mental incapacity

A son was obliged to ‘forum shop’ in order to assist his debt-laden father go into voluntary bankruptcy.  The father had suffered

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

“with all due respect an exceptionally opaque process in changing important aspects of company law”

A judge is very critical of the “Henry VIII” process by which the commencement date of the Insolvency Law Reform

Is “outrageous” too strong a term to describe some of our new insolvency laws?

The question as to what parts of the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 have commenced may be unclear to some but

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. 

A New Zealand Ponzi – the final outcome of McIntosh v Fisk

The second report of the NZ insolvency working group had deferred consideration of the application of the voidable transactions regime

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

“Straw directors”? no kidding!

The federal government is putting through laws that would give directors of companies greater latitude to incur debts that cannot

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),

INSOL’s Directors in the Twilght Zone – Australia’s “medium risk” for its directors

INSOL International has released the 5th edition of its excellent review of the international laws regulating director conduct in the ‘twilight

World Bank Report on the Treatment of MSME Insolvencies

The World Bank has just released a report on small business insolvencies – Report on the Treatment of MSME Insolvency,

Government’s response to the 2015 Productivity Commission Report – “Business … closure”

That part of the Productivity Commission’s report on insolvency – or “closure” – was not one of its better efforts,

Funding personal and corporate insolvency regulation

ASIC and AFSA ASIC The funding of ASIC under the draft ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Regulations 2017 by way of

Gift-cards resurrected

The 2016 “gift-card” report of the UK Law Commission examined whether there should be greater protection for consumers who lose

Insolvency Law Amendment Bill 2017 (No 1?)

The government is proposing to amend only some of the insolvency law changes under the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016

Unpaid super – just rounding up the usual suspects

A Senate Committee has produced yet another typical report that goes round in the usual circles of recommending the implementation of previous

Insolvency Law Bulletin – special law reform double issue

The latest Insolvency Law Bulletin (INSLB) is a special insolvency law reform double issue covering various aspects of the changes being

Traill’s 16th Insolvency Conference 1-2 May – a wrap-up

A wide range of legal and practice issues concerning the current insolvency law changes under the Insolvency Law Reform Act

MSME insolvencies – more on small business ‘exits’

My recent report explained that the insolvency of micro and small to medium enterprises (MSMEs) is to be the subject

Directors and their safe harbour – how to get them to behave

An aim of the latest “safe harbour” insolvency reforms is to “drive cultural change” in company directors by encouraging them

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

Australian safe harbour and ipso facto reforms

Obviously prompted by my reporting of significant restructuring reforms in the EU, and my query as to the long delayed

Insolvency law’s unfortunate ‘split commencement’

The unfortunate decision of the government to split the commencement date of the ILRA 2016 has created confusion, compounded by