Every director of an Australian company is under a legal duty to prevent the company incurring a debt when the company is insolvent (or where that debt will cause the company to become insolvent).

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) new Regulatory Guide sets out four key principles which directors should follow to meet their obligation to prevent insolvent trading.

The Regulatory Guide also sets out ASIC's approach to assessing whether a director has breached their duty.

Background

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released Regulatory Guide 217 (RG 217) to assist directors in understanding and complying with their duty to prevent insolvent trading under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act). It should be noted from the outset that ASIC regulatory guides indicate ASIC’s policy on specific issues, they do not have legislative force or constitute legal advice. Insolvent trading involves complex legal and accounting issues and it is therefore recommended that you seek professional advice to find out how the Act may apply to you.

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Asset classes used as collateral for security

Principle

In order to secure the protection of judicial reorganization, the debtor needs to attach to the petition for judicial reorganization a certain number of documents provided for in article 17 § 2 of the Law on the continuity of enterprises (LCE). If these documents are not attached to the petition, the LCE provides that the petition shall be deemed inadmissible.

Tax treatment in the hands of the creditor

The waiver of debt results in the accounting ‘loss’ of a receivable. Such loss, however, is not automatically tax deductible in the hands of the creditor.

The deductibility of such loss may be prohibited, either because it is deemed not to be incurred to retain or increase taxable income (‘general deduction criterion’), or because it is deemed to be an ‘abnormal or benevolent advantage’ granted to the debtor (‘anti-abuse rule’).

Key Points:

The key to planning, devising and implementing a successful turnaround is having the right team in place to properly assess all relevant information, circumstances and risks.

Introduction

Does the ATO have priority over secured creditors in a liquidation? Is a receiver required to account to the ATO for any tax payable out of funds received on the sale of an asset before accounting to the secured creditor? Are receivers and liquidators personally liable for the tax payable from funds received by them? Can receivers and liquidators avoid such personal liability by distributing funds received to creditors before a tax assessment arises? These issues were at the centre of a Federal Court judgment handed down on 21 February 2014.

Summary

This briefing sets out the key French corporate income tax issues in respect of debt restructurings. In summary, debtors and creditors may be faced with material tax consequences in case of a debt waiver, debt transfer, conversion of debt into equity or debt buy-back, so that such operations may require an appropriate structuring in order to mitigate potential tax issues.

Introduction  

This briefing summarises key French tax points relating to restructuring of indebtedness.  

A recent judgment in the Wellington High Court makes receivers, liquidators – and, potentially, the directors of companies in receivership and liquidation – personally liable for GST on the sale of mortgaged properties even where the mortgagee is not GST registered.1

The decision is being appealed and may be overturned as – in our view – it rests upon an unusual interpretation of the law. 

I ARTICLE 233(5) OF THE CODE OF INSOLVENCY AND RECOVERY OF COMPANIES