Rodgers Reidy director David Hambleton. Two Queensland liquidators are licking their wounds after betting that the Commissioner of Taxation (CoT) was wrong on the question of the relation back date for 52 The Esplanade Pty Ltd, a Surfers Paradise cafe operator. The question came before Queensland Supreme Court judge Declan Kelly for determination on March 15 and judgment in Re 52 The Esplanade Pty Ltd…
Simon Cathro of Cathro & Partners. Cathro & Partners’ Andrew Blundell. Several companies operating goldmines have entered external administration recently, just when the yellow element’s spot price would seem to be supportive of solvency, if not profit. iNO’s coverage in the past few months has included reports on the travails of Jin Resources (Australia) Pty Ltd and its Gilded Rose gold mine near Cloncurry in…
Olvera Advisors’ Damien Hodgkinson. BDO’s Andrew Sallway. Whilst some face the possibility that the ATO might renege on an undertaking and pursue monies it previously deemed vests with a liquidator, others are instead vexed by competing claims from creditors and the appointees they replaced. For Hogan Sprowles co-founder Christian Sprowles, that has meant he’s had to delay distributing some part of an approximately $285,000 cash…
Morton + Lee Insolvency’s Leon Lee. Never say never seems to be the safest position for insolvency practitioners dealing with the Australian Tax Office (ATO). The Commonwealth Shylock’s rulings on tax liabilities can make rubber look rigid and equally elastic are its rulings in respect of monies to be credited back to a company in liquidation. That presents challenges for liquidators with surpluses to distribute…
Shaw Gidley principal Paul Gidley. Rodgers Reidy’s Andrew Barnden. There are few things that should get the pulse racing like consenting to become administrator of a corporation about to be wound up. Knowing there’s a problematic debt, knowing that a hearing’s imminent and knowing not much else about an entity’s affairs must elevate the tension for even the most cocksure practitioner, especially in circumstances where,…
Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. KordaMentha’s Richard Tucker. In insolvency, incumbency has its virtues, if for no other reason than that creditors desperate to have a voice might generally prefer the first devil presiding over their particular hell. And even when the incumbent is shown to charge more for the privilege of impaling claims on the trident of pari passu, being first has its advantages, as…
Hall Chadwick’s Richard Lawrence. KordaMentha’s Richard Tucker. It might be thought wise to never let someone who’s after your job address those who’ve assembled to decide your fate, but Richard Lawrence risked it yesterday when he temporarily vacated the chairman’s seat at the first meeting of creditors of Balmaine Gold Pty Ltd. The partner from the Hall Chadwick Melbourne practice made the decision some two…
KordaMentha Singapore partner Cameron Duncan. In the wake of a disciplinary committee ruling last month cashiering one of their own, iNO’s mail is that senior members of industry heavyweight KordaMentha are puzzled about the ruling and about ASIC’s decision this week to make the punishment public. The decision, delivered on February 28 and announced in a statement released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission…
Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. Fresh from being turfed out of an appointment as voluntary administrator (VA) of a company in control of gold mine in Queensland, Richard Albarran is now facing resistance from another gold miner disinclined to let the Hall Chadwick Sydney partner anywhere near its nuggets. To this end, Golden Point Pty Ltd (Golden Point) yesterday sought an urgent injunction in the Federal…
KordaMentha’s Richard Tucker. Worrells’ Christopher Darin. No matter what misgivings liquidators of a company might have about the conduct of separate liquidators appointed to a related entity, they must always resist the temptation to apply to wind up that related entity if it’s subject to a deed of company arrangement (DoCA). That’s the message Supreme Court of West Australia Master Craig Sanderson delivered last week…