More detail has emerged about the possible phoenix transaction that has embroiled FTI Consulting’s Joanne Dunn in an unseemly scrap with the Commonwealth’s FEG Recovery Unit. In Commonwealth of Australia, in the matter of ACN 093 117 232 Pty Ltd (in liquidation) v ACN 093 117 232 Pty Ltd (in liquidation) [2018] FCA 1922 Federal Court Justice Roger Derrington has granted FEG orders for the appointment of a special…
There’s a saying that the margin’s in the mystery. The more complex the offering the easier it is to conceal fees and gouges. And nobody wants to admit they haven’t a clue how the investment they’ve backed nets a dime. Now whilst a trustee in bankruptcy is often of prudent character he or she might consider invoking maxims about margins and mystery when contemplating whether…
When SV Partners’ pair Shumit Banerjee and Jason Porter were appointed joint and several voluntary administrators (VAs) of United Security Enterprises Pty Ltd (USE’s) it dawned on them very quickly that they had a problem. Under the Security Industry Act and cl 13(3) of the Security Industry Regulation 2016 (NSW) the Commissioner of Police was obliged to revoke the company’s master security license due to the event…
When’s money held on trust and when is it not? It’s a question that’s probably exercised the minds of FTI Consulting’s John Park and Kelly Anne Trenfield at least on occasion over the last couple of years in their roles as liquidators of claims assessor Stream Group (Aust) Pty Ltd (SGA) and NSW Supreme Court judge Ashley Black yesterday provided an answer. In his judgment In the…
You know views on a course of action have become estranged when one set of insolvency practitioners asks a court to inquire into the conduct and remuneration of another set of insolvency practitioners. That however is what has happened to Pitcher Partners Andrew Yeo and Gess Rambaldi, who for almost two years have been engaged in an attritional struggle with Mark Korda, a struggle which…
An application to the Federal Court seeking to surrender insolvency appointments has shed fresh light on the fate of various PPB Advisory staff and partners following its acquisition by PwC. The judgment of Justice Kathleen Farrell in Theobald, in the matter of Bowesco Pty Ltd (in liq) [2018] FCA 1725 details how Simon Theobald and Mark Robinson recently sought orders to effect their resignations as either official liquidators or…
A recent application for directions in the Supreme Court of West Australia has revealed that for 12 months some of KordaMentha’s most experienced practitioners have been hamstrung by the threat of an indemnity-crippling damages claim after terminating a contract to sell the assets of Mirabella Nickel (MBN) to one party and then offloading those same assets to another. The jilted buyer was Mining Standards International Pty Ltd (MSI),…
Liquidator Anthony Warner could potentially face a hefty payout to former colleague and partner Steve Kugel following a judgment handed down this week by NSW Supreme Court Justice Guy Parker. In the 30,000 plus word judgment of Shazbot Pty Ltd v Warner Capital Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 1645 Justice Parker has painted an at times less than flattering picture of Warner in respect of the machinations he…
David Mansfield and Neil Cussen would’ve been highly motivated applicants when they approached the Federal Court recently seeking to extend the convening period for the second meeting of creditors of Highrise Telecoms Pty Limited. The Deloitte duo were appointed administrators of the company by secured creditor Buroserve Australia at the beginning of October. According to the judgment of Justice David Yates in Mansfield, in the matter…
Correction & Clarification You know you’re in for a rollicking read when a judge begin his reasons thus: “The appellant (Mr Moss) is a solicitor. For reasons that are not presently relevant, he decided to invest in timber and walnuts. The result has not been a happy one.” The Moss on this particularly log is Sydney lawyer Stephen Moss, formerly of Slater & Gordon, and…