If an international airline that is a member of the International Air Transport Association (“IATA”) goes into insolvent external administration under the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the “Act”), will the IATA Clearing House Regulations (effective January 1, 2006) (the “CH Regulations”) continue to govern the relationship between IATA, the insolvent airline, and the other members of IATA? A recent judgment of Australia’s High Court clarifies these issues.

The House of Lords has ruled that English assets of the HIH group of companies are to be remitted to the Australian liquidators for distribution under Australian law. This briefing discusses the background to McGrath and another and others v Riddell and others [2008] UKHL 21 and the implications of the ruling.

Background

The House of Lords recently had to consider whether the English court should remit assets when faced with a request to do so by a foreign court.

MCGRATH AND ANOTHER v RIDDELL, House of Lords, 9 April 2008

The liquidators of the HIH group of Australian insurance companies appealed against the decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal that certain assets of the HIH group, mostly reinsurance claims on policies taken out in the London market, should not be remitted to Australia. The courts instead ordered that the assets should remain in England and be distributed to creditors in accordance with English insolvency laws.

In a July 12, 2007 post, we reported on issues relating to HIH Casualty and General Insurance Limited (“HIH”). The question before the court was whether it had jurisdiction to entertain a request under the Insolvency Act for directions to the liquidators in England to transfer assets collected by them to the liquidators in an Australian liquidation. The Court of Appeal held that it would not direct a transfer of the English assets by the English provisional liquidators to the Australian liquidators because to do so would prejudice the interests of many of the creditors.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland, has today introduced a bill in Federal Parliament to create a comprehensive national personal property securities law, to be known as the Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA). The bill is the culmination of more than three years of public consultation and is a significantly revised version of an exposure draft bill that was the subject of a report by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in March of this year.  

Exposure draft legislation has been released which proposes amendments to the GST legislation to make it clear that liquidators and other representatives of incapacitated entities are liable for GST on transactions within the scope of their appointment.

Date of effect

It is proposed that the main operative provisions of the legislation have effect retrospectively from the commencement of the GST Act on 1 July 2000.

Background

Effectively, the High Court held that aggrieved shareholders (shareholders whose debt arises as a result of misrepresentation or improper disclosure by the company causing the shareholder to acquire shares) would be ranked equally with the debts of other unsecured creditors.

If Departmental activity, debate in Parliament and media articles are an indication, the Federal Government’s much awaited response to the Ripoll Report is imminent.  

The High Court has further clarified the law regarding the effect of section 260-5 notices served by the Commissioner on third parties who are required to make payments to a company in liquidation.

The effect of the decision is that the Commissioner cannot issue such a notice after a company has gone into liquidation in order to give himself a priority over other creditors for payment of a tax debt. Such a notice is void.

The different types of insolvency

When a corporate tenant becomes insolvent, the landlord's rights depend upon the type of insolvency administration to which the tenant is subjected. Being familiar with the different options and the ways in which they are administered will enable property owners to act early and put themselves in the best possible position when faced with an insolvent (or potentially insolvent) tenant.

The three most common forms of insolvency administration which may affect corporate tenants are discussed below.