Facts
A Trustee in Bankruptcy (‘TiB’) applied for committal of a bankrupt (‘B’) for contempt for repeated failure to provide financial information sought in conjunction with an application for an Income Payment Order (‘IPO’).
Facts
Mr Mikki is a photographer (‘the Bankrupt’). Bankruptcy was 2010 when pertinently he had a bank account with £1,500 in it and a car.
The £1,500 was spent, but £3,000 was subsequently paid in. When the account was frozen it again had £1,500 in it. After investigations it was determined that this money derived from post-bankruptcy income and was returned. Those investigations took some time and the Bankrupt demanded penal interest.
This article was first published in the LexisNexis Corporate Rescue and Insolvency Journal (2017) 2 CRI 45.
Key Issues
New Law to Encourage Informal Restructuring
On 28 March 2017, the Federal Government released its long awaited draft legislation that is designed to encourage restructuring of distressed businesses.
The proposed legislation is open for consultation with the finalised legislation expected to come into effect on 1 January 2018. There are two proposed changes:
Australia Restructuring and InsolvencyAlert
On 28 March 2017, the Federal Government released its long awaited draft legislation for reforms to insolvency laws in Australia. The changes focus on providing a safe harbour for directors of distressed companies and a stay on the enforcement of ipso facto clauses in contracts.
In a previous Legal Insight, we foreshadowed potential guidance from the ASX on the interaction between the new insolvent trading safe harbour laws and the continuous disclosure obligations of a public company.
The New South Wales Supreme Court of Appeal's decision in Sanderson as Liquidator of Sakr Nominees [1] has given cause for optimism amongst insolvency practitioners. The decision confirms that the correct approach was taken by the Court inIdylic Solutions [2], bucking a trend in recent years of limiting or reducing practitioner remuneration by reference to a proportion of the funds recovered.
In a recent opinion, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon reminds all finance lawyers (and participants trying to document a finance transaction without legal assistance) that recording an “assignment” of a deed of trust is not always sufficient to perfect an interest in the real property.
An Australian Tale
2017 is shaping up to be a challenging year for insolvency practitioners in Australia, from the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 (Cth) (ILRA), which comes with a raft of reforms to practitioner remuneration and creditors' powers, to the new ASIC 'user pay' funding model which could potentially impact negatively on insolvency practitioners and the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) Recovery Program's pursuit of claims against insolvency practitioners.
Original news
Mikki v Duncan [2016] EWCA Civ 1312, [2017] All ER (D) 157 (Feb)