Articles

(recent exacerbation of an old problem) Bankruptcy/CGT liability An individual can face a second bankruptcy as a result of a first bankruptcy that involves an investment property or other CGT assets. An individual’s CGT asset vests in a trustee because of the bankruptcy of the individual. However, no CGT event happens as a result of…

Last week, on 28 March 2017, the Treasury released draft legislation to amend the Corporations Act 2001 to reform Australia’s insolvency laws as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA). The aim of the reform is “to promote a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation and help reduce the stigma associated with business failure.”…

Last month I received a random email that was the equivalent of the hackneyed, ridiculed and scorned Nigerian letter. An overseas bank manager had US$31 million in an account belonging to his client who had died and had ‘almost’ the same name as me. The manager wanted to ensure I got the money. Do such…

Forge Group Limited (“Forge”) collapsed in February 2014 due to losses on two power station construction projects. Creditors were owed an estimated $800 million and more than 1,500 employees were left jobless. The collapse has generated legal actions that have produced noteworthy decisions. The most recent is the Federal Court’s ruling on 1 March 2017…

The start of the year saw builder Builton Group (Platinum Homes and Aspireon Homes) go into administration (owing about $16 million to 350 unsecured creditors, mainly subcontractors), adding to a growing list of WA residential builders and subcontractors that have recently crumbled. One of Builton’s creditors, Anstey Cabinets, was owed $1 million. The effect on…

The technology disruption in the retail sector that has been underway for several years now has seen some high profile casualties in the fashion sector. The toppling of Payless Shoes and Pumpkin Patch has now been followed by the voluntary administration of Marcs, David Lawrence, Herringbone and Rhodes & Beckett. Those major fashion merchants who…

The weird and wonderful claims the Courts are presented with. On 10 November 2016 the High Court unanimously dismissed Clive Palmer’s challenge to the constitutional validity of Section 596A of the Corporations Act (liquidator’s power to publicly examine and compel the production of documents). Palmer, who once declared himself Australia’s next prime minister, halted a…

Are you a “Smombie”? Or do you suffer from Nomophobia? Maybe it’s time to have a break this Christmas. A smombie is a walking person using a smart or mobile phone, and not paying attention as they walk. Seven out of ten young adults aged up to 24 admit using their mobile phones while walking,…

The two-year transitional period under the PPSA ended on 31 January 2014. This transitional period gave parties a two-year grace period to register interests created prior to the commencement of the PPSA that are considered security interests under the PPSA but which were not registrable under prior law, termed “transitional security interests”. Transitional security interests…

In a recent case the Judge clearly reasoned that an ROT clause will provide a valid defence to a liquidator’s unfair preference claim in relation to a payment that reduces the debt to which the ROT clause relates. In Hussain v CSR Building Products Limited, in the matter of FPJ Group Pty Ltd (In Liquidation)…