Judgment

“Vague statements” no way to delay winding up

Some of the lawyers among SiN’s readers may have already seen the “vague statements” proffered by defendants in Fortune Technology Fund Ltd v Premier Eastern Energy Ltd [2018] WASC 35 (7 February 2018). in their attempts to adjourn the hearing of a winding up application. The parties had agreed to a timetable in December last year but when the matter came before Judge Craig Sanderson for hearing…


SiN 2017 – the Year in Review

The year is done, Christmas is come and for SiN it is time to replenish the reservoir of curiosity ahead of what promises to be a fascinating 2018. From next year the Insolvency Law Reform Act (ILRA) will be in full swing. Insolvency practitioners will face a world where creditors will have expanded powers. Appointees will need to get used to being replaced. Courts too…


Receiver refused fees for attending examination

In being refused his fees and legals, Jirsch Sutherland’s Liam Bellamy has extracted useful clarity from the courts on the question of the costs that can be claimed when an insolvency practitioner is required to attend a mandatory examination, particularly one that requires a practitioner to travel to the ends of the Earth or indeed to destinations even further flung, like Perth. The decision was…


Yeo loses voidable claim against celebrity architect

Pitcher Partners’ Andrew Yeo has lost an enterprising bid to have a deed of settlement involving architect to the affluent Nicholas Day set aside as a voidable transaction after a voluminous ruling by Victorian Supreme Court judge Melanie Sloss. Day’s work is regularly snapped up by Melbourne’s wealthiest but according to Shot One Pty Ltd (in liq.) & Anor v Day & Anor [2017] VSC 741 (7…


PwC pair lose to Pitchers duo in Pluton DoCA fight

The arm wrestle over $835,021.94 paid into a deed of company arrangement (DoCA) has come to a possible conclusion in the West Australian Supreme Court of Appeal with a judge overturning an earlier decision of the WA Supreme Court. As a result Pitcher Partners’ Bryan Hughes and Daniel Bredenkamp as receivers and managers of Pluton Resources have been found to be entitled to the funds ahead of…


Bell Group Liquidator negotiates conflict from 2004

The deft management of conflict is a key skill for any registered liquidator and over in West Australia, Tony Woodings is negotiating a minefield of competing interests in the liquidation of the Bell Group of companies. Last week a decision was handed down in the Supreme Court of West Australia that illustrates how past undertakings can come back to bite after Woodings sought directions from…


ASIC inquiry into Sheahan and Lock imminent

When there’s $47 million in cash at stake, cross border insolvency issues and allegations that the disputed funds are proceeds of crime, it’s not surprising that the practitioners involved would fall out but the saga of Cedenco JV Australia/SK Foods Australia is one for the record books. Not only have liquidators John Sheahan and Ian Lock locked horns with receivers Mark Korda and Craig Shepherd during…


SVP’s Purchas motherships preferences fleet

SV Partners’ Ian Purchas has saved Bias Boating creditors more than a few bob after a judge granted him leave to consolidate claims against 23 parties he’s identified as having received potential unfair preferences prior to the company being placed into voluntary administration (VA) in August, 2014. Describing the decision of the NSW Supreme Court’s Justice Paul Brereton as “quite a big relief” the SV…


New ASIC boss should bring a broom

Before one casts a critical eye over the back yards of others, one’s own patch must be beyond reproach, which brings us to the slightly unkempt quarter acre awaiting incoming ASIC chairman James Shipton. “One of the reasons I left to become a regulator is that I genuinely believed that financial institutions, big and small, had lost their way and were losing the trust of…


FTI pair claim partial victory over BDO nemesis

FTI’s John Park and his former colleague Ginette Muller are still trying to wipe off some of the opprobrium that attached itself to them after an August 2013 decision containing uncomplimentary remarks about their handling of the administration of LM Investment Management Ltd (LMIM), responsible entity for the LM First Mortgage Income Fund (FMIF). The remarks were made in proceedings which among other things saw BDO’s…