Bankruptcy seems to be the hardest word
The government has not said anything about insolvency law reform for financially struggling individual small business operators among its claimed “the most significant reforms to…
SME insolvency – an alternative approach
Small business enterprises (SME) in Australia are conducted through the full range of legal entities available – sole traders, partners, corporate trusts, companies, associations and…
What is the future of insolvency practice?
The insolvency reforms of 2017 have been seen as a missed opportunity for Australia to introduce internet-based processes and approaches to its insolvency law, which,…
Australia’s small business restructuring practitioners
Australia is proposing a sub-group of liquidator accountants to assist in administering its new corporate SME insolvency laws, set to commence on 1 January 2021,…
Licensing of insolvency practitioners – decision making principles from New Zealand
Mr Damien Grant has succeeded before the High Court of New Zealand in challenging a decision of RITANZ declining to admit him as a member,…
Singapore’s new small business restructuring and liquidation regime – a “move away from earlier efforts to ‘hold the line'”
The Singapore parliament passed the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Amendment) Bill 2020 on 3 November 2020. It will amend the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act…
Do the Australian small to medium business insolvency reforms add up?
The numbers upon which the government is relying for the proposed SME reforms[1] don’t seem to add up. Apart from the fact that the reforms…
Caution against “reasoning backwards” in assessing the validity of liquidators’ litigation
A judge has cautioned against “reasoning backwards” to assume that insolvency practitioners’ failed or injudicious legal proceedings either should not reasonably have been commenced or…
‘There is no such thing, per se, as “illegal phoenix activity”….’ – ASIC’s claim struck out
A liquidator has successfully applied to have claims by ASIC that he was involved in unlawful phoenix activity in external administrations matters in 2016 struck…
ATO’s right to garnishee – a “privileged position … likely to result in failed corporate rescue attempts”?
A recent article Getting the priorities right: ATO garnishee notices in times of corporate distress by Sylvia Villios and David Brown[1] has highlighted what is…
Spent convictions of insolvency practitioners
According to a report from Stuff in New Zealand, a long-established liquidator has been denied permission to continue to practise based upon his convictions for…
Transparency in the selection process of liquidators and trustees
The Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 introduced some, let's say, novel provisions in relation to the registration and discipline of Australian insolvency practitioners which I…
‘In the ordinary course of business’ in insolvency – why are we following wrong thinking New Zealanders?
The term ‘ordinary course of business’ in law is meant to describe a transaction that was within the normal operations of a particular business, it…
Choosing practitioners to administer Australian MSME insolvencies
The Australian government is presently finalising its draft SME insolvency law reform proposals. Apart from getting the law right, as significant a task is deciding…
Who wants to be an SME insolvency practitioner? Australia’s proposed reforms
Australia proposes to follow England’s lead in giving insolvency practitioners the initial role in new debtor in possession insolvency reforms, but in rather different ways.[1] …
Australia’s proposed MSME insolvency reforms – an international perspective
Australia’s draft legislation to implement its announced MSME corporate insolvency reforms may have drawn more on international than local thinking, in particular in relation to…
Insolvent assetless MSMEs – all but forgotten?
Does it matter that a company is insolvent such that something should be done by way of putting it into a formal insolvency arrangement under…
“industry codes with their precepts, guidance and aspirational verbiage cannot dictate the proper construction and application of the relevant statutory provisions”
Soft law in Australia takes a rather strict approach in assessing the independence of insolvency practitioners, more so than, for example, the UK: for a…