High Court says "Yes"
Need to know
In a win for creditors of insolvent companies, on 10 December 2015 the High Court determined that the obligation of a liquidator under section 254(1)(d) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (1936 Act) to retain sufficient funds to pay tax on assets realised during the winding up only arises after a tax assessment has been made. If the funds are distributed prior to a tax assessment being made, then the obligation does not arise.
The "running account" defence to an unfair preference claim is a fragile flower. In a recent decision, the Queensland Court of Appeal has reminded solvent counterparties that suspension of a customer's trading account will probably break the "running account", exposing a solvent counterparty to greater unfair preference risk.
Need to know
There have been a couple of cases in the last few months where the impact of changes to the details of the various registers at Companies House has been considered by a Court. This article considers the points of interest for lenders that arise out of those decisions
What use is an LP registration certificate?
Not much in the case of a certificate that relates to a limited partnership (one to which the Limited Partnership Act 1907 applies not the limited liability partnership variety).
Key Point
The High Court has given some guidance on the effect of an order to restore a dissolved company to the register where a secured creditor has rights against that company and there has been a disclaimer by the Crown.
Facts
A recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal demonstrates the importance for security trustees tocarefully consider and understand their obligations in an enforcement scenario.
Need to know
Key point
The Joint special administrators of an investment banking entity succeed in obtaining a direction to allow them to distribute client assets quickly.
Facts
Key point
The Court of Appeal has recently given detailed guidance on what happens to the surpluses available in the insolvency of companies after dealing with an appeal in relation to the so-called Lehman Waterfall Application dealt with in an earlier Update.
Facts
The reform agenda for Australia's restructuring and insolvency regime has now received the views of the Productivity Commission, in the context of its wider review of Business Set-Up, Transfer and Closure. A draft report published on 21 May 2015 sets out a number of recommendations that, while mostly not new to the reform agenda, will be relevant to restructuring and insolvency professionals in the not-too-distant future.
Key Point
The ECJ has outlined how the protection afforded to a counterparty by Article 13 of the European Insolvency regulation works where an insolvency officeholder challenges a transaction governed by a law different from the one which applies to the insolvency of the estate generally.
Facts