Liquidators and Trustees in Bankruptcy - Claw-Back
Sometimes service providers feel that they should not get involved to assist financially troubled clients obtain work-out or insolvency advice in fear that if their client goes into liquidation or bankruptcy that the WIP and/or fees/costs paid may be lost or "clawed back" by a liquidator because of an unfair preference claim.
The Federal Court of Australia has recently issued a decision clarifying the breadth of its powers under the Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2008 (Cth) (the Act).
Another judgment has been handed down in the ongoing dispute between the MFS/Octaviar liquidators and Fortress Credit Corporation (Australia) II Pty Ltd (Fortress). In this latest decision, the NSW Court of Appeal has confirmed that a creditor can attack a litigation funding agreement entered by a liquidator.
The relevant facts were as follows:
BACKGROUND
In brief - Well drafted trading and credit terms can help your company avoid bad debts
Seeking director's guarantees, following your credit policies and including recovery costs, interest clauses, general security and retention of title clauses in your trading terms can help you manage cash flow and prevent bad debts.
Company liquidation often due to poor management of cash flow
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.
The latest statistics on insolvency appointments (for the period January 1999 to March 2015) and companies entering external administration (for the period July 2013 to March 2015) have been released.
In Re The Bell Group Ltd (in liquidation); Ex Parte Woodings [2015] WASC 88 (Bell) Pritchard J found that section 548 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) required:
Di Cioccio v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (as Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Di Cioccio) [2015] FCAFC 30
Whether inconsistency between Div 4B of Pt VI, s 58(1)(b) in Div 4 of Pt IV and s 116 of Pt VI of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth)
An appeal from the decision of Di Cioccio v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy [2014] FCA 782.
BACKGROUND
Stephanie Roebuck As Executor Of The Deceased Estate Of Suzanne Florence Bulwinkel (Roebuck) served Bulwinkel Enterprises Pty Ltd (Bulwinkel) with a statutory demand for the payment of $990,377.63 monies owing in connection with an unpaid trust distribution and loan between the parties.