ASIC

AFP arrests uncover a most helpful director

The AFP arrests this week in respect of yet another Plutus Payroll-style tax evasion scheme prompted iNO to consider, not for the first time, what aspects if any of these recurring scams are facilitated by complicit insolvency practitioners, a negligent regulator or a combination of both. Looking at the names of those arrested, it wasn’t long before our investigations led us instead to a particular…


Preferences next as Govt mulls more COVID moves

AICM CEO Nick Pilavidis. Sources close to Government deliberations around how to cope with the tsunami of insolvencies anticipated once fiscal support ends have told iNO measures to restrain liquidators from pursuing preferences are under active consideration. “A lot of stakeholders are seeking to have unfair preferences suspended, the AICM for example,” a source said in response to iNO’s enquiries about options the government could…


Liquidator to relinquish casting vote on Tauro offer

Hall Chadwick’s Richard Lawrence. Tauro Capital and Apollo League director Simon Ward. Hall Chadwick Melbourne partner Richard Lawrence will refrain from exercising his casting vote in the event there is a deadlock between creditors prepared to accept Tauro Capital director Simon Ward’s compromise offer and those who want his head. In a report issued to Tauro creditors this week Lawrence said that as a consequence…


New intel sees liquidator adjourn compromise vote

Tauro Capital director Simon Ward. Hall Chadwick’s Richard Lawrence. Creditors of Simon Ward’s failed start-up accelerator Tauro Capital have received a potential reprieve with liquidator Richard Lawrence advising that next Monday’s meeting to vote on Ward’s Spartan compromise would be adjourned. ” … additional information and documentation has been provided to my office since the Reports were issued to creditors and this information indicates potential…


KPMG partner pushes privilege envelope

KPMG’s Peter Gothard. KPMG’s Peter Gothard has helped push a court to explicitly define the powers of liquidators in respect of claims of legal professional privilege and the outcome will not have pleased the non-executive directors (NEDs) of failed education provider Vocation Limited. In Whittenbury v Vocation Limited (No 2) [2020] FCA 653 Federal Court judge John Middleton last week ruled that Vocation’s NEDs have…


Pandemic to test Safe Harbour, profession

McGrathNicol Partner Kathy Sozou. Image McGrathNicol. Ankura senior managing director Quentin Olde. While the extent of the impact on business of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unknown, what is certain is that Australia’s nascent safe harbour regime and the capacities of our insolvency firms are set to be tested like never before.  Restructuring practitioners contacted this week confirmed they were fielding more enquiries from company directors…


Pre-insolvency advisor sentenced to 5 years

Pre-insolvency advisor Stephen Mark O’Neill. Image courtesy ABC. Notorious pre-insolvency advisor Stephen Mark O’Neill 54 of Port Melbourne – aka Steve Marks – has been sentenced today to five years gaol after last year pleading guilty to one count of dealing with proceeds of crime. The scheduled imprisonment was originally to take place yesterday but was adjourned for 24 hours yesterday morning so a judge…


Another inadvertent deregistration via 5603

PKF’s Brad Tonks. Imagine, if you are so predisposed, a day when the ASIC database communicates with itself. Information uploaded dissolves instantly into a cyber solution. There it’s compared with every relevant byte of meaning already saturating ASIC’s deep reservoir of data. At quantum computing speeds, the digital litmus satisfies itself, classifying the intel as compliant with the myriad rules and regulations that have been…


Liquidator replaced after admitting related party debt

PKF’s Brad Tonks. The admission of a related party debt appears to have been sufficient for a court to agree to replace an incumbent liquidator with an applicant creditor’s preferred appointee. In the matter of Hawkesbury House Pty Limited (in liquidation) [2019] NSWSC 1673 NSW Supreme Court judge Ashley Black made orders replacing liquidator Adam Farnsworth with PKF’s Brad Tonks. This was on the application…


Contrition and circumstances save Ball’s bacon

BPS Recovery’s Mitchell Ball. Jump on directors, back-dated documents, low ball fees and a common referrer – a disciplinary committee convened to consider whether liquidator Mitchell Ball should remain registered has benched the BPS Recovery partner for a year but declined to cancel his registration. Making its findings public yesterday the committee said that Ball’s contrition, the calibre of those providing endorsements of his character…