An appeal “of considerable importance for company law” in the UK could affect Australian directors' duties.

In Australia, the existence of a duty to consider the interests of creditors principally arises in the context of the fiduciary duty of directors to act in the best interests of the company. That duty finds expression in section 181(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth): a director or other officer of a corporation must exercise their powers and discharge their duties in good faith in the best interests of the corporation and for a proper purpose.

Liquidators accepting a new appointment will have to think carefully if there's a possibility of disclaiming onerous property as part of that appointment.

In Kennedy Civil Contracting Pty Ltd (Administrators Appointed) v Richard Crookes Constructing Pty Ltd v Richard Crookes Construction Pty Ltd; In the matter of Kennedy Civil Contracting Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 99, the NSW Supreme Court considered whether a company on the brink of liquidation can take action to enforce a payment claim under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (SOP Act).

In Golfside Ventures Ltd (Re) (2023 ABKB 86) the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta (the “Court”) reaffirmed the Court’s authority to exercise inherent jurisdiction in proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the “BIA”) in circumstances where (1) the BIA is silent or has not dealt with a matter exhaustively; and (2) the benefit of granting the relief outweighs th

Insolvency practitioners and creditors facing voidable transaction claims will need to reassess the value of any potential or threatened unfair preference claims or other voidable transaction claims, following two important insolvency decisions in the High Court yesterday (Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton [2023] HCA 1 (Metal Manufactures); Bryant v Badenoch Integrated Logging Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 2 (Badenoch).

It held that:

The first reported decision on the ipso facto stay provisions of the Corporations Act provides clarity that they operate as intended in voluntary administration – leaving the trickier issues for another day.

More Australian businesses in financial difficulty are embracing a ‘turnaround’ culture, but further structural reforms are needed to shift attitudes towards the use of turnaround professionals, according to Clayton Utz Restructuring & Insolvency partner, Cameron Belyea.

In a unanimous decision, with concurring reasons, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has rendered its long-anticipated judgment regarding the intersection of insolvency and domestic arbitration law in Peace River Hydro Partners v. Petrowest Corp., 2022 SCC 41.

Après plus de deux années mouvementées marquées par une pandémie, des conflits géopolitiques mondiaux, un ralentissement économique majeur suivi d’une succession record de rebonds des marchés financiers publics et privés, le milieu des affaires a dû adapter sa gestion du risque, et ce, à maintes reprises à travers ces situations exceptionnelles. Dans ce contexte, les entreprises font et feront face à des défis de taille.

After more than two turbulent years of a pandemic, global geopolitical conflicts, a serious economic downturn followed by a series of record rebounds in public and private financial markets, the business community has had to adapt its risk management repeatedly through these exceptional situations. In this context, companies face and will continue to face major challenges.