The Federal Government’s announcement that it would undertake the most significant reforms to Australia’s insolvency framework in 30 years is welcome news for many small businesses. For directors, it will be very important to carefully consider the information in the Government’s fact sheet outlining the reform process.
A well-executed personal guarantee can be the holy grail of debt recovery tools, but one overlooked detail can bring the whole thing to its knees. It is surprising the number of clients relying on guarantees that are either ineffectively drafted or have been inadvertently discharged by the actions of the client.
The preferential payment provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 are one of the most powerful weapons in a liquidator’s armory. As many would be aware, creditors have many defences available but the most often successfully employed is the continuing business relationship or running account defence contained in Section 588FA(3) of the Corporations Act. Recently, we had a …
Just because a liquidator asserts you have received an unfair preference, does not necessarily mean you have or that there are no potential defences available to you. The Corporations Act 2001(Cth), enables liquidators in certain circumstances to claw back payments made by a debtor company to an unsecured creditor where the payment was made to …
Unfair preferences – creditor’s defence of not suspecting insolvency Read More…
Australia’s Housing Industry Association (HIA) has warned that tighter lending standards risks exacerbating the downturn in residential construction activity already under way. The HIA is forecasting that housing starts will slow to 183,230 by the 2020/21 financial year, more than 50,000 less than the peak of 233,970 homes that began construction in the 2015/16 financial …
Have you ever calculated your costs for resolving receivable disputes? If you have, you’ve probably discovered that the process is quite expensive. Here’s why. A misstep in any department involved in a sale can result in a discrepancy that delays payment and drives up costs. Disputes, discrepancies and exceptions are “nonstandard” transactions that require additional …
Are unresolved A/R disputes taking a toll on your company’s bottom line? Read More…
Nothing is quite as painful in construction business as realising that your payment claim is going to sit there, unpaid, unless you take action to collect. Let’s say you’ve tried all of the friendly ways of trying to get paid: you’ve sent letters, made calls, re-sent the payment claim, and delivered any supporting documents that …
Under tight time pressures to decide often complex matters, Adjudicators appointed to determine an adjudication application under Security of Payment legislation may make mistakes. When the Adjudicator makes an error of law, are the parties to the determination able to have it set aside? This was the question confronted by the High Court in two …
The right to be wrong – the ability to review Adjudicators’ determinations Read More…
After pursuing a long and hard fought Supreme Court claim, our client obtained judgment for an amount of $1.64 million. Shortly thereafter, the defendant company was placed into voluntary administration by its director. The judgement itself is a landmark decision in Australia for the general proposition that the views of unrelated creditors, in these circumstances, …
Minority creditor terminates director friendly voluntary administration Read More…
The Drive to Promote More Innovation and Entrepreneurship It’s been well published in recent years that the Australian Government has considered various measures to promote and support the success of business start-ups in Australia. A large percentage of small to medium sized enterprises collapse within the first three years of commencement for various reasons, ranging …
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