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…
‘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…
Climate change and the law
Here are details of two recent events on climate change and the law, followed by details of a range of other issues covered by Murrays…
Regulation of Australian insolvency practitioners – UK and NZ compared
I am pleased to be soon presenting to various groups on the regulation of Australian insolvency practitioners, with some comparisons with England and New Zealand.…
International Association of Insolvency Regulators’ Conference – 2019
Australia is attending and presenting at the annual insolvency regulators' conference, along with regulators from the UK, the US, New Zealand, Singapore and others. …
A liquidator found liable for breach of confidence and invasion of privacy
“To say there is bad blood between David Henderson and Robert Walker is an understatement. From the time Robert Walker was appointed liquidator of Property…
A legal ‘affront’ – the Chorley exception – has gone
In raising the fundamental equality of all before the law in the context of a lawyer's costs in their own court proceedings, the High Court…
Democracy, Human Rights and the Judiciary: the common law and the wider world
The Australian Academy of Law is hosting a presentation by Sir Nicholas Blake on this Wednesday 4 September 2019, in Melbourne. Sir Nicholas is a…
Winding up a company for $2,000?
A court has suggested that the minimum debt amount for which a creditor can proceed to apply to wind up a debtor before the court…
Insolvency practitioner offence reporting – a need for reform
If liquidators in Australia are investigating and reporting to ASIC "thousands" of breaches of the law by those involved in insolvent companies each year, most…
A policy question with insolvency preferences
Is the essence of a preference payment in insolvency that the pool of the debtor’s assets are lessened by the debtor’s payment to the preferred…
Flying low – an airline’s ‘extraordinary’ response to a $19m penalty
A major international airline turned up to court to seek a stay of a A$19m penalty with evidence so inadequate that the Judge described it…
International insolvency law and Australia’s UNCCA
A newly qualified Australian lawyer who was sponsored through UNCCA and LAWASIA to attend Insolvency Working Group V in Vienna in December 2018, is pursuing…
Choosing courts in cross-border insolvency applications
As a federation, Australia has a mix of state and territory and federal courts, each with their own jurisdictions. Jurisdiction is however shared between courts…
Australian insolvency law – current reforms
As in many countries, general elections put law changes and reform on hold pending the new government’s decisions on pending law. The government was returned…
“Shortcomings of the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (just some)”
Professor Martin Davies of Tulane Maritime Law Center recently offered a critique of the Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency at a presentation at Sydney…
Fallout from a shipping trillision – Part 2
In Part 1 of this case report, the outcome of a three ship collision - a trillision - causing the total loss of a cargo…