Nobody expects the inquisition: High Court of Australia opens the door to extraordinary public examination powers to potential class action plaintiffs and beyond

In its recent decision in Walton v ACN 004 410 833 Limited (formerly Arrium Limited) (in liquidation) [2022] HCA 3 (Walton), the High Court of Australia held, in a split decision, that the mandatory public examination power contained in section 596A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) could be used by eligible applicants to examine directors and other officers of a company in external administration, including senior management, external administrators and trustees, about the company’s affairs for the broad purposes of enforcing and promoting comp

Filed under:
Australia, Capital Markets, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Liquidation, Australian Securities Exchange, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Corporations Act 2001 (Australia), High Court of Australia, New South Wales Court of Appeal
Authors:
Paul Apáthy , Mark Clifton , Quentin Digby , Christine Tran , Brock Gunthorpe , Hannah Fraenkel
Location:
Australia
Firm:
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP