Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash. Marcus Watters of Hall Chadwick. Deciding which party’s liquidator will be appointed has occupied the minds of more than a few judges so far this year, but the following is the first decision in which respective charge out rates have figured prominently in the judicial deliberations. The matter comes courtesy of two directors who fell out and could agree only…
Jones Partners principal Bruce Gleeson. Helm Advisory managing director Stephen Hathway. Rival insolvency practitioners could shortly be facing off control of a corporate group that’s allegedly defrauded the Australian Tax Office (ATO) of $150 million. Before any showdown with lawyers occurs however, the rivals have time to negotiate a less adversarial outcome thanks to the decision of the administrators of Dalma Form Specialist Pty Ltd…
BDO partner Shaun McKinnon. It’s not often that the courts agree to set aside a vote of creditors and terminate a deed of company arrangement but Federal Court judge Roger Derrington did just that yesterday, and the deed administrators punted as a result might think themselves lucky. “In this case, the findings that the DOCA was an abuse of Pt 5.3A, that it was unfairly…
EY director Martie Tziotis. EY partner Morgan Kelly. The Gallic shrug, best articulated by uttering c’est la vie may have been heard in EY Sydney’s George Street HQ this week after a judge of the NSW Supreme Court decided against appointing two of the big four firm’s restructuring specialists as liquidators of Rynever Pty Ltd. Instead, Judge Ashley Black sided with the plaintiff’s preferred nominees,…
Deloitte’s David Mansfield. Insolvency Options principal Darren Vardy. Maybe the perpetually youthful David Mansfield has known for a while that the winding up of Roseville Construction Services Pty Ltd (RCS) might not be a straightforward creditors voluntary given its links to one of Australia’s largest alleged payroll tax scams. Then again maybe not. Either way things could be set to change when liquidator Darren Vardy…
Aston Chace Group partner Ian Niccol. Levi Consulting’s David Levi. Using your casting vote to overcome opposition to the payment of your predecessor’s fees ought to earn a liquidator something, right? In the case of Ian Niccol, that something might be a placatory word from his predecessor in the ear of a certain director who’s given Niccol hell ever since he was appointed liquidator of…
FTI Consulting’s John Park. FTI Consulting’s Kelly Trenfield. Nice try Parky but no go. Asking a court to approve $1.3 million in remuneration without your lawyers opening their mouths was a bit much. Sure, we know FTI Consulting’s Head of Corporate Finance & Restructuring – Australia John Park was just trying to save the long suffering creditors of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (QN) a bit…
EY director Martie Tziotis EY partner Morgan Kelly. The competitive juices will be flowing in the offices of those vying for the role of court appointed liquidators of Rynever Pty Ltd. At present there’s four candidates from two firms in the hunt with the contest likely to be resolved next week after NSW Supreme Court judge Ashley Black hears argument from shareholders of Rynever seeking…
Insolvency Experts’ principal Steve Kugel. CRS Warner principal Anthony Warner It started in 2015 and maybe it’ll conclude this year. But given the potential for disagreement generated over almost 10 years of litigation, who the hell knows. Since November 2018 when the principle issues were thought to be resolved in the plaintiff’s favour in Shazbot Pty Ltd v Warner Capital Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 1645…
Ex-liquidator David Iannuzzi. Chris Jordan probably never imagined he’d be lumped in with disgraced ex-liquidator David Iannuzzi on the same side of a legal dispute. It was the current Commissioner of Taxation (CoT) after all who was at the helm of the ATO when the proceedings the tax office commenced in 2017 culminated with Iannuzzi consenting to Federal Court orders striking his name from the…