Receivers are often faced with the dilemma of goods in their possession which are not readily identifiable as “property of the corporation” pursuant to section 420 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (CA). Selling or disposing of assets that are not property of the company may make receivers liable for the loss or conversion of such goods. Therefore, it is important that receivers identify the property of the company correctly.
The recent decision of Lewis v Nortex Pty Limited (in liquidation)1 highlights potential issues that may arise for liquidators when issuing a bankruptcy notice.
Facts
Nortex Pty Ltd (Nortex) was the trustee of the Nortex Unit Trust (Trust) pursuant to a deed. Under the terms of the trust deed, Nortex ceased to be trustee when the company went into liquidation. The beneficiaries of the trust were Kation Pty Ltd (Kation) which was controlled by the appellant (Lewis) and Lamru Pty Ltd (Lamru).
Public comment on the exposure draft of the Insolvency Law Reform Bill 2013 has now closed. Sixteen submissions were received in response to the long awaited draft.
While one submission was confidential, the remaining 15 can be viewed here.