HELL hath no fury like a banker denied the voluntary administrator (VA) of his choice, as Grant Thornton’s Paul Billingham discovered during his truncated tenure as VA of Arrium. As a result of accepting the appointment, SiN understands at least four receiverships were lopped from GT’s advisory division in a day. The axe was wielded by Westpac’s restructuring chief Gwyn Morgan, who wanted good mate Peter Andersen’s firm McGrathNicol…
THE changes to insolvency mooted in the Federal Government’s Innovation Statement provide an ideal opportunity for insolvency practitioners to host seminars. There the invited can hear the pros and cons debated then opine at length during the drink and nibbles that invariably follow. Last week Schon Condon, James McPherson and the rest of the Condon Associates team were at it, packing their conference room on…
ORDERS freezing the assets of the former director of Insolvency Guardian Melbourne have been dismissed. In the Federal Court last week Justice James Edelman ordered that the proceedings brought against Phil Carlei by Insolvency Guardian principal Jarrod Siorecki be dismissed by consent. There were no orders as to costs. Neither Carlei or Siorecki responded to requests for comment. The orders bring to an end an action…
FRIDAY was a triumph for the men and women of BPS Recovery after partner Max Prentice’s Ticket of Leave (TOL) trounced the competition at the annual Chartered Accountants Regatta on Sydney Harbour. With son Matt at the helm, Prentice scooped the Division A teams event, winning the coveted Liquidators Cup in the process. Fellow BPS team skipper Rob Pizzie took second aboard Tonic to entrench…
FTI Consulting might have first been contacted about a VA appointment to Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (QN) on Sunday January 3 but according to reports in The Australian newspaper, rival firm Hall Chadwick had a team on the ground at QN’s Yabulu nickel refinery in Townsville the following day. The report, published on Thursday January 7, put Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran, Jovandeep Singh, Mathew Badcock, and Brent Kijurina at…
KPMG’s Ian Hall and Chris Giddens have for months been resisting calls from the insolvency practitioners’ representative body to resign as liquidators of Engineered Surface Preparation Pty Ltd and repay fees earned on the appointment. The dispute between the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA) and two of its members came to light today when ARITA published details of a Professional Conduct Committee review that…
AFTER months of speculation the regulator has moved to shut down an inappropriately cosy referral relationship between Sydney liquidator Adam Farnsworth and Drummoyne-based accountant Frank Bruzzano. In a statement released today the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it had extracted an enforceable undertaking from Adam Edward Patrick Farnsworth which suspends his liquidator’s registration for six months. Given Farnsworth has not accepted an appointment since…
APPARENTLY they never knew. About the summonses to attend for public examinations, about the orders to produce documents or about the warrants for their arrest, issued after the summonses expired uncomplied with. Accountants Bill Gertos, Constantine Savell and Therese Alha. No idea. The Federal Court heard as much last Friday in room 19c around 3.00pm. Registrar Chaun Ng warned the three that they must appear…
THE wash up from day one of public examinations into the bankrupt estate of artistic agent Dolores Lavin culminated in the issue of arrest warrants for her accountants and an application by Lavin to be excused from her examination on undisclosed medical grounds. Late on Monday afternoon Federal Court Registrar Chuan Ng issued warrants for the arrest of Bill Gertos, Con Savell and Therese Alha. Barrister Geoff McDonald,…