New Zealand – corporate insolvency practitioner regulation
The New Zealand government has called for submissions on the proposed minimum standards and conditions for the licensing of insolvency practitioners under the Insolvency Practitioners…
Corporate phoenixing – a crime?
The Australian Law Reform Commission has released a Discussion Paper addressing a number of aspects of its reference on corporate criminal liability. Phoenix activity receives…
New Zealand insolvency reform – half a gift card
The New Zealand government has decided to give consumers with unclaimed gift cards issued by a failed business a priority in the winding up of…
Cross-border insolvency – the Canberra session
I was pleased to have been involved with others in giving a presentation on UN Day 24 October 2019 to commemorate 25 years of cross-border…
Halifax – a cross-border insolvency
A joint hearing of Australian and New Zealand courts is one way to deal with an intermingled cross-Tasman insolvency, through a letter of request process,…
Insolvency developments in the 2018-19 annual reports – ASIC, AFSA, AGD and ATO
Annual reports nowadays are more marketing publications as to various achievements of the relevant agencies and their compliance with statutory and financial reporting requirements. The…
Fair Entitlements Guarantee – powers to demand information
The Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business' Annual Report 2018-2019 provides some information about the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Recovery Program which is now…
A bankrupt and ‘one rooster, one peacock, three ducks, and 22 chickens …’
A person’s bankruptcy can arise from a host of circumstances, disputes with neighbours and non-compliance with local council requirements being a significant one. The 2012…
Small business insolvency – the Ombudsman inquiry
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has established an inquiry into “the insolvency system” to report by February 2020, focusing on practitioners, lawyers,…
Do old emails ever die?
A respondent car hire company being sued by the ACCC for unconscionable conduct has claimed that what the ACCC alleges were its intimidating and threatening…
A trustee’s interest in a bankrupt’s interest in trust property – Boensch v Pascoe
A seven member bench of the High Court was convened for the hearing in Boensch v Pascoe on 11 October 2019. It is an appeal…
The evolution of bankruptcy and insolvency laws and the case of the deed of company arrangement
This is a thoughtful and instructive article on the process of the historical development of the bankruptcy and insolvency laws in the United Kingdom, the…
NZ insolvency practitioner costs recovery fees
The New Zealand government has released a discussion paper on proposed regulations concerning fees and other arrangements in preparation for the commencement of the co-regulatory…
Digital disruption is here but “progress towards a digital insolvency practice has to date been slow”
A recent journal article on the impact of artificial intelligence and its use by the insolvency profession has good and bad news - the good…
‘A good idea’ – assignment of a liquidator’s recovery rights
A liquidator has transferred, with court approval, potential recovery claims to the ATO, as the major and only creditor in a liquidation. The law concerning…
ASIC’s deterrence message – “no point just communicating this into the Fin Review”.
ASIC gave some useful insights before the recent Senate oversight hearing[1] on 13 September as to the reality of the effectiveness of its proposed and…
Use of referees in insolvency litigation
Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court of Australia has called for a more proactive response from liquidators and trustees and their lawyers in pursuing…
ASIC’s period of external scrutiny
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is properly subject to parliamentary oversight, apart from the on-going scrutiny it receives from its various stakeholders. At least…