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 see whether the codes are…
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 context of the impact of…
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 consider some root and branch…
Winding up a company for a $1,000 debt
" … the issue of proportionality between the amount of indebtedness and the deployment of an application to wind up a debtor company is one…
An insolvency safe harbour in New Zealand?
As Australia is about the review the first two years of operation of its 2017 safe harbour reforms,[1] New Zealand is looking at introducing the…
Dealing with MSE insolvency – UNCCA Australia
Earlier in December 2019, LLM candidate and graduate lawyer Samantha Pacchiarotta and final year law student Cassandra Heaslip attended Insolvency Working Group V's 56th session…
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 the accreditation of professional bodies[1]…
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 Ombudsman examines the financial difficulties…
Halifax – no reason why the NZ High Court should not physically sit in Australia …
The on-going matter of the Halifax liquidation came before Justice Jacqueline Gleeson in the Federal Court of Australia (FCA) on 18 December 2019, and jointly,…
Major corporate collapses and the public interest – British Steel and more
The collapses in the UK of socially and economically important enterprises - British Steel, Carillion Constructions and Thomas Cook are current examples - raise many…
Insolvency – some root and branch ideas
Does the government shirk its responsibilities in ensuring the proper operation of our insolvency regime by unloading the costs of investigation, reporting and prosecuting as…
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,…
Australia’s Official Receiver (in corporate insolvency)
Australia adopted much of English corporate law at the beginning of the 20th century but one thing it did not take on was the English…
Breaking a bankruptcy monopoly in New Zealand
There are moves in NZ to break the monopoly of the Official Assignee in personal insolvency by allowing private insolvency practitioners to administer bankruptcies under…
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…
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…
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,…