Holding company director as “officer” of subsidiary under the Corporations Act
In ASIC v King [2020] HCA 4, the High Court considered whether a director of a holding company was an “officer” of a subsidiary company for the purposes of the Corporations Act (the Act). If so, the “officer” may have been liable for breaches of duties as an “officer”. Background Mr King was the CEO and an executive director of […]
ReadmoreGadens Connect | 2020 Edition Two
Welcome to the second edition of Gadens Connect, and our first quarter update of 2020. This year has seen many challenges for lenders, from bushfires to the more recent COVID-19 pandemic. We know you have been working hard to support thousands of affected customers and we are here to work with you, and support your […]
ReadmoreA warning to Liquidators: comply with your disclosure obligations or face dismissal of your unfair preference proceedings
In Clifton (Liquidator) v Kerry J Investment Pty Ltd trading as Clenergy [2020] FCAFC 5, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia found that: where the Liquidators failed to comply with their discovery obligations and the Court could not be satisfied regarding the existence of documents which might be deployed by innocent parties to meet […]
ReadmoreAnti-phoenixing legislation finally passes through Parliament
After having been introduced to the Commonwealth Parliament on 13 February 2019, then re-introduced on 4 July 2019, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Combating Illegal Phoenixing) Bill 2019 finally passed through both Houses on 5 February 2020. As its name suggests, the Bill introduces a number of new measures aimed at combating illegal phoenix activity in Australia. Illegal […]
ReadmoreAn overview of the changes to the witnessing requirements for Queensland Land Registry forms
The Natural Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019 (Qld) introduced additional requirements for witnessing documents including: requiring the witness to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of an individual and to ensure the individual is the person entitled to sign the document; requiring the witness to keep a written record of the steps they took […]
ReadmoreTo carry out no or little investigation and to say nothing is not an option – a warning to insolvency practitioners
The Federal Court has issued a warning to insolvency practitioners, involved in voluntary administrations, to ensure adequate investigation and reporting occurs of matters that have the potential to materially affect the outcome of the administration. In Adelaide Brighton Cement Limited, in the matter of Concrete Supply Pty Ltd v Concrete Supply Pty Ltd (Subject to Deed […]
ReadmoreGadens Connect | 2020 Edition One
Welcome to Gadens Connect – a newsletter to share insights, trends and opportunities for our clients in the financial services industry. In this edition we share some key performance insights from 2019 and provide an overview of topics including updates to our GPSR platform (automation and integration solutions), MIP sale obligations and updates to the […]
ReadmoreNew penalties for avoiding employee entitlements
The Commonwealth Government has introduced legislation targeting the misuse of the taxpayer-funded Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) scheme by directors, officers and related entities of insolvent companies. Click here to view the full size PDF.
ReadmoreIpso facto reforms: can I enforce my contractual rights?
Ipso facto clauses are contractual provisions that allow a party to terminate or modify the operation of a contract on the occurrence of a specified event. The Federal Government has introduced reforms which limit the rights of a party to enforce ipso facto clauses in certain insolvency scenarios. The reforms came into effect on 1 […]
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