Social/Professional

ASIC retreats on bid to ban liquidator

Trajan John Kukulovski. Well a three year suspension sounds preferable to cancellation of one’s registration as a liquidator so iNO reckons there was cause for celebrations aplenty over Christmas in the household of John Kukulovski. Kukuwhoski you ask? For readers unaware of the object of iNO’s interest, we refer you to the public announcement of this great nation’s corporate regulator on January 13, 2021. On…


VA Verney falls on sword at 11th hour

11th hour sword fall – Greyhouse Partners’ Ben Verney. Sydney based insolvency practitioners Chris Palmer and Liam Bailey supplanted Melbourne counterpart Ben Verney late last year after court orders were agreed less than a day before Verney and the creditors wanting him gone were due to put their conflicting arguments before NSW Supreme Court Corporations judge Ashley Black. On Monday December 28, short minutes of…


Jirsch partner joins Hall Chadwick

Sule Arnautovic’s new profile image on the Hall Chadwick website. After saying last last month that he was staying on at Jirsch Sutherland until March 31 next year former managing partner Sule Arnautovic has signed on as a partner at arch rival Hall Chadwick. Jirsch Sutherland managing partner Bradd Morelli told iNO that Arnautovic finished up at Jirsch last Tuesday and said he wished him…


Respected liquidator dodges inquiry bullet, for now

Jones Partners’ Bruce Gleeson. Highly regarded Jones Partners’ principal Bruce Gleeson has dodged a bullet after NSW Supreme Court judge Ashley Black this week chose not to initiate an inquiry into his conduct as liquidator of Military History Tours Australia Pty Ltd (MHT), a company which offered travel to sites like Gallipoli until relations with Swiss-based cruise ship operator MSC Cruises SA soured in 2014….


McGrathNicol, Deloitte deny deal imminent

Departing Deloitte partner Vaughan Strawbridge. McGrathNicol’s Jason Preston. In recent weeks the gossisphere has been thrumming with speculation about why Deloitte heavy hitter Vaughan Strawbridge is, as the AFR’s Street Talk squad recently revealed, taking his bat and ball to FTI Consulting. Some among iNO’s sources suggested that Strawbridge had crossed swords with John Greig, the managing partner of Deloitte’s Queensland practice. Greig it should…


Jirsch Sutherland’s new recruit can walk the walk

Jirsch Sutherland’s new recruit, Paul Pattison. Jirsch Sutherland may have lost a veteran partner with the departure next March of Sule Arnautovic but it’s recently gained a national business development manager, and if the firm wanted someone who can relate to business owners going through the wringer then who better than ex-liquidator and ex-trustee in bankruptcy Paul Pattison? About a decade ago, Victoria-based Pattison went…


Jirsch Sutherland veteran quits firm but not game

Departing: liquidator Sule Arnautovic is leaving Jirsch Sutherland after 22 years. After 22 years at Jirsch Sutherland registered liquidator and former managing partner Sule Arnautovic has given notice, saying he expects to leave the firm on March 31, 2021. “On 2 October 2020 I gave notice of my resignation as a partner of Jirsch Sutherland,” Arnautovic announced via social media yesterday. “After 22 years with…


FTI and KordaMentha vying for Grocon VA?

FTI Consulting’s John Park. FTI Consulting’s Kelly Trenfield. It’s been almost a week since media reports emerged declaring that builder Grocon had “put” its troubled construction division into administration, or that directors had “called in administrators”. As of this morning however no formal insolvency appointment has been made, either as voluntary administrator (VA) or receiver. There’s little doubt a restructure if not a formal appointment…


Seize the pay! Liquidators exonerated as ASIC fails

Olvera Advisors’ Kate Barnet. Liquidator Bill Fletcher. Liquidators Kate Barnett and Bill Fletcher have been exonerated by a committee convened in July this year to consider contraventions ASIC alleged were perpetrated in the early days of the Octaviar liquidation. The allegations were brought to Barnett and Fletcher’s attention in show cause notices under section 40-40 of the Corporations Act issued by ASIC in 2019. After…


Court approves liquidators to derive a profit

Aston Chace’s Vincent Pirina. Aston Chace principal Steve Naidenov. There’s an interesting issue in the recent judgment of NSW Supreme Court Justice Ashley Black, who’s rejected efforts to prevent liquidators from deriving a profit via work done by employees of two incorporated accounting firms with which the liquidators either are or were associated. In the matter of Karim Pty Ltd (in liq) [2020] NSWSC 1603…