Insolvency litigation

Relief for companies during COVID-19

On 24 March 2020, the Federal Government passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (Act).  As a part of the Act, insolvency and corporations laws have been temporarily amended in light of the financial challenges businesses are facing in the wake of COVID-19.  The changes made are intended to avoid unnecessary insolvencies and bankruptcies by providing a safety net for companies and their directors during the pandemic.  This article will discuss the key changes. [Read more…]

Litigation – offers to settle and the rules

Civil litigation is a costly and technical process which requires careful compliance with the legislative and rules of the respective Court.   In contrast it also is akin to a game of chess as each party to the proceedings does now know the others strategy.  In Queensland, the predominant legislation which governs how litigation is to be conducted is contained in the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999(Qld)(UCPR).  There are of course various practice notes and rules prescribed by the respective Court and case law which needs to be complied with depending on the circumstances and the Court. [Read more…]

Unfair preferences and the set-off defence

Under section 588FA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) an unfair preference is defined as a transaction, such as payment of an outstanding debt, between a company and an unsecured creditor which results in that unsecured creditor receiving more than it would have received if it had to prove in the winding up of the debtor company.  It is unfair because the payment results in the net value of the assets of the debtor company being reduced, to the detriment of the body of unsecured creditors as a whole.  One of the rarer defences is the Set-Off to an unfair preference claim. [Read more…]

Unfair preferences – the Doctrine of Ultimate Effect

Under section 588FA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), an unfair preference is defined as a transaction, such as payment of an outstanding debt, between a company and a unsecured creditor which results in that unsecured creditor receiving more than it would have received if it had to prove in the winding up of the debtor company.  It is unfair because the payment the debt results in the net value of the assets of the debtor company being reduced, to the detriment of the body of unsecured creditors as a whole. [Read more…]

Unfair preferences and unperfected security interests

Take the scenario where your company has supplied a customer with goods on credit.  The standard terms and conditions of supply grant your company security over the goods supplied until they are paid for.  In order for that security to be perfected, the interest granted needed to be registered on the Personal Property Security Register (PPSR).  If for example, the interest was not registered or if it was, it was invalid for technical reasons then your company may be at risk. [Read more…]

The ‘good faith’ defence to an unfair preference claim

This is the third article in our series on Unfair Preference payments.    The scenario that is common is that a business does the work or delivers the goods, invoices its customer and is eventually paid.   Three months later the business owner receives a letter from a liquidator demanding under threat of legal action that they be paid the money received on the basis the payment received was an unfair preference (Unfair Preference).  [Read more…]

Director Identification Numbers – more red tape?

The Exposure Draft of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries Modernisation and Other Measures) Bill 2018 (Exposure Draft) was released on 1 October 2018.   If enacted, the provisions contained in the Exposure Draft would amend the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and implement a regime including an identification number for directors and a single business register.  The Exposure Draft stems from the announcement made by the Federal Government in the 2018-2019 budget to “target organised crime and tax evasion” by implementing new measures.  Those measures include a new regime to “modernise the business registers program” and merge the Australian Business Register (ABR) with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Register to make one platform administered by the ABR within the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).[1]  Within this new register, company directors will be required to have an identification number (Director Identification Number or DIN). [Read more…]

What’s an unfair preference claim?

You have done the work, the client is happy, you’ve invoiced them and are awaiting payment.  You have had a long-standing relationship with the client.   They contact you and asks, despite your usual credit terms, if they can pay the invoice off over time.  It’s not the first time it has made this request, but they have always come good with payment.  You agree and the invoice is eventually paid.  Three months later you receive a letter from a liquidator demanding (under threat of legal action) that you pay to them the money you received because the payment was an unfair preference (Unfair Preference)! [Read more…]

What kind of documents can a liquidator get access to and from whom?

Liquidators have various tools available to locate the assets of a company in liquidation and to trace company monies they suspect may been “siphoned away”.  These tools include applying to the Court for the officers of the company and related entities to “deliver up” various documents and for those parties to then submit to public examination before the Court in respect of the company’s examinable affairs.  The recent Federal Court decision of Cathro, in the matter of Lidcombe Plastering Services Pty Limited (in liq) [2018] FCA 1138 (Cathro) considered the power to compel a related entity to produce documents relevant to the liquidation of a company prior to a public examination.     [Read more…]

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