Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. Hall Chadwick’s Richard Lawrence. A contested fee application scheduled for hearing in June is likely to give liquidators and the lawyers who act for them deep insights into how the courts view the always contentious issues of information provision, seniority and duplication of work. “I take issue with these allegations and moreover say that the ATO has no basis to question…
PKF’s Brad Tonks. FEG Active Creditor Recovery Unit Director Henry Carr. There would have been only measured satisfaction in the offices of PKF partner Brad Tonks and his lawyers at O’Neill Partners after the NSW Supreme Court yesterday delivered them a potentially significant victory against the Commonwealth’s FEG Recovery Division in respect of the dreaded interplay of sections 556 and 561 of the Corporations Act…
Steven Golledge SC. The Commissioner of Taxation’s (CoT) ears would’ve been aflame last week as Steven Golledge SC excoriated the highest tax officer in the land for repeatedly failing to preserve claims to millions lost to illegal phoenixing. As iNO reported in Banq Jurisdiction Case Could Limit Late Start Litigation, ex-clients of the controversial Banq Accountants & Advisers are seeking to overturn the basis on…
Lawyer Ben Sewell stared down ASIC to clinch restricted ticket. They say there is more than one way to skin a cat, though having limited familiarity with the skinning game iNO cannot vouch for the veracity of this disturbing adage. We can however see the maxim at work in the case of a recent registration of a Sydney lawyer as a liquidator. The mail crossing…
Ex-liquidator David Iannuzzi. Commencing proceedings years after the deadline for such actions has expired is in for a test as the long running battle between the Commissioner of Taxation (CoT) and clients and interests associated with the notorious Banq Accountants & Advisors group flares again. The latest outbreak involves an appeal in the Federal Court by various beneficiaries of the Banq tax evasion scheme against…
Rodgers Reidy director David Hambleton. Two Queensland liquidators are licking their wounds after betting that the Commissioner of Taxation (CoT) was wrong on the question of the relation back date for 52 The Esplanade Pty Ltd, a Surfers Paradise cafe operator. The question came before Queensland Supreme Court judge Declan Kelly for determination on March 15 and judgment in Re 52 The Esplanade Pty Ltd…
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…
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…
KordaMentha Singapore partner Cameron Duncan. In the wake of a disciplinary committee ruling last month cashiering one of their own, iNO’s mail is that senior members of industry heavyweight KordaMentha are puzzled about the ruling and about ASIC’s decision this week to make the punishment public. The decision, delivered on February 28 and announced in a statement released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission…