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…
O’Brien Palmer’s Liam Bailey. Christmas spirit was in limited supply at the meeting of creditors of bankrupt builder Tony Saaib late last year, and that’s perhaps understandable. Convened on December 23, 2022 creditors had assembled to consider just one resolution. The removal of the trustee of Saaib’s bankrupt estate and his replacement with rivals joint and several. “I advise that the Indemnity is not payable…
Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash. Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. Some of Hall Chadwick’s finest have encountered potholes recently in their regular transit through insolvency’s rougher reaches. iNO’s readers may recall our reports of two separate appointments from which Hall Chadwick partners were separated from the fee teat by court orders, wielded machete-like by judges unconvinced by evidence served up to justify the administrators’ installation. In…
PKF’s Brad Tonks. PKF partner Mark Roufeil. Marital enmity and alleged share register shenanigans have led to the appointment of PKF’s Mark Roufeil and Brad Tonks as provisional liquidators (ProvLiqs) to companies linked to the alleged buyer of a Sydney Harbour-front reportedly valued at $95 million. The PKF pair were appointed by the courts in late December to various companies linked to businessman “John” Changjin…
Robson Cotter principal Roland Robson. A Queensland trustee in bankruptcy who landed a large and complex estate in early 2021 is now fighting to retain the appointment after one unsecured creditor lost patience and commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia seeking orders that the trustee be removed. Whether the creditor’s impatience is justified however is something the court will have to decide. The…
Victorian liquidator Peter Goodin. We hear much about first responders but not so much about non responders. We might however hear a bit more after a Victorian liquidator was ordered to personally pay more than $21,000 in indemnity costs after he repeatedly failed to respond to a creditor’s correspondence. Given that the creditor had wanted the meeting to consider a resolution to replace the incumbent…