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Conflict, DIRRIs, Liquidations, Liquidators, Social/Professional 12 August 2020

Brother’s link to referrer complicates liquidator’s life

With its connections to Knox Grammar and the Baptist Church high profile building industry failure Clifford Constructions was always going to present added complications for whichever liquidators won the appointment, and that’s without the further complication of one of the liquidator’s brother’s links to the referrer. The link and the potential for conflict it creates is disclosed in the Declaration of Independence, Relevant Relationships and…

ASIC, Liquidators, Social/Professional 7 August 2020

AAF’s alleged obstacles no hurdle for some

Worrels Partner Simon Cathro. ASIC’s Assetless Administration Fund (AAF) is routnilely bollicked for being too tightfisted, too difficult to access and just too bloody hard but a look at the numbers going back to 2016 shows there are some practitioners more fortunate than others when it comes to extracting those prized grant dollars. Number one has been Worrells partner Simon Cathro, who since My 2018…

ARITA, Directors, DIRRIs, Judgment, Lawyers, Liquidators, Social/Professional 5 August 2020

Cant can’t shake dreaded friendly phrase

Romanis Cant’s Tony Cant. If there’s one term likely to irritate liquidators more than “corporate undertaker” it’d have to be “friendly liquidator”, a phrase that impugns the profession’s almost collective commitment to independence with unerring efficiency. We say almost because on occasion allegations may be aired by a court suggesting a liquidator has strayed, and in the case of Romanis Cant’s Tony Cant the damning…

Corporates, Directors, Liquidators, Receivership, Referrers, Social/Professional, VA's & DoCA's 5 August 2020

Receiver resists inquiry into asset sale to appointor

Worrels Partner Simon Cathro. Hell hath no fury like a debtor who sees their assets sold at what they believe is significant undervalue – just ask Worrells partner Simon Cathro who is seeking to have dismissed an application for an inquiry into his conduct as receiver of International Business Corporation (IBC). IBC’s secured lender FC Securities appointed Cathro receiver of IBC and some related entities…

ASIC, Conduct, Liquidators, Social/Professional 31 July 2020

Worrells partner seeks to strike out phoenixing case

Worrells partner Jason Bettles. Editor’s Note: On Friday, August 18, 2023 Justice Brigitte Markovic of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed ASIC’s case against liquidator Jason Bettles and ordered the regulator to pay Bettles’ costs. Worrells Queensland partner Jason Bettles has gone on the front foot in his defence of allegations brought by the corporate regulator of complicity in illegal phoenixing, launching an application to…

Creditors, Directors, Liquidators, Social/Professional, VA's & DoCA's 31 July 2020

KPMG duo edge out rival VAs, become ProvLiqs

Romanis Cant’s Tony Cant. KPMG partner Robyn Duggan. If the dearth of appointments presently bedevilling liquidators required any illustration then an account of the competition for appointments to the Pages Events Group and how it ended in ProvLiqs is in order. Last Friday the NSW Supreme court made orders installing KPMG’s Robyn Duggan and Peter Gothard as provisional liquidators (ProvLiqs) of Pages Equipment Holdings Pty…

Fees, Liquidations, Liquidators, Litigation, Social/Professional 29 July 2020

Octaviar liquidators at war with COI over fees

KPMG’s Will Colwell. The liquidators of the failed Octaviar Group have been forced to seek court approval for remuneration dating back to 2018 after falling out spectacularly with the Octaviar Committee of Inspection (COI). Bill Fletcher of Bentleys and Kate Barnet of Olvera Advisors applied in March this year for orders approving $358,731.85 (plus GST) in remuneration for work done from 1 July 2018 to…

Deals & Departures, Social/Professional, Talent Transfer 29 July 2020

Parbery joins old mates at Duff & Phelps

From KPMG to Duff & Phelps. Steve Parbery. Insolvency industry luminary Steve Parbery has rejoined former PPB Advisory colleagues at Duff & Phelps Kroll, ending his stint at KPMG which began when KPMG acquired Ferrier Hodgson in March 2019. Joking that he had made more moves in two years than the previous 30, Parbery said yesterday that as a senior advisor with a position on…

ARITA, ASIC, Conduct, Conflict, Directors, Discipline, Liquidations, Liquidators, Social/Professional 29 July 2020

Conflict concern over ARITA director referral

Katherine Barnet leaving the Supreme Court Photo: iNO Images Liquidator Kate Barnet has taken leave of absence from her role as a director of the board of the Australian Restructuring, Insolvency & Turnaround Association (ARITA) following her referral to a s40-45 disciplinary committee by ASIC. As was first reported last week in Insolvency News Online (iNO) Barnet and former Bentleys colleague Bill Fletcher were referred…

Accountants, ASIC, ATO, Conduct, Corporates, DIRRIs, Liquidations, Liquidators, Referrers, Social/Professional, VA's & DoCA's 24 July 2020

AFP arrests uncover a most helpful director

The AFP arrests this week in respect of yet another Plutus Payroll-style tax evasion scheme prompted iNO to consider, not for the first time, what aspects if any of these recurring scams are facilitated by complicit insolvency practitioners, a negligent regulator or a combination of both. Looking at the names of those arrested, it wasn’t long before our investigations led us instead to a particular…