Zone of Insolvency

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Category Archives: Australia

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The role of AI in insolvency litigation: an enhancement but not a replacement for human lawyers in the administration of justice

By Claudine Salameh, Laura Johns and Simran Chawla on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency
Introduction A duty to act in the best interests of our clients goes to the heart of the legal profession, both functionally and ethically. Can our ability to fulfil this duty be enhanced by the use artificial intelligence (AI)? There is a common suggestion that AI can perform certain roles better than humans can. However,… Continue Reading

Small business restructuring in Australia – Two years on, is the new process working as intended?

By Claudine Salameh on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency
From 1 January 2021, Australia’s insolvency framework for small businesses changed. The purpose of the change was to assist small businesses, with debts under AUD $1 million, to survive – specifically, by providing these businesses with simpler, more flexible restructuring options outside the existing “one size fits all” voluntary administration and scheme of arrangement processes… Continue Reading

Unfair preference claims shot? Impact of Australian High Court’s rejection of peak indebtedness rule in Gunns case

By Laura Johns and Seraijah Choi on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency
Summary In a highly anticipated decision, the High Court of Australia has unanimously determined in Bryant & Ors v Badenoch Logging Pty Ltd [2023] HCA 2 that the peak indebtedness rule is not part of the unfair preference provisions in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act).  The decision means liquidators will no longer be able… Continue Reading

Australian High Court banishes statutory set-off, sets up liquidator recoveries in unfair preference decision

By Laura Johns and Deborah Tsai on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency
In a landmark case, the High Court of Australia this month unanimously determined in Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton [2023] HCA 1 (Morton) that set-off is not available against a liquidator’s unfair preference claim. The effect of the decision is that a creditor is not entitled to deduct any outstanding claim that it might… Continue Reading

Australian corporate insolvency reform: What can we expect in 2023?

By NRF Australian Restructuring Team on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global
Overview There has been a growing appetite for corporate insolvency law reform in Australia in the last 18 months. In 2021, public consultations were completed on improvements to creditors’ schemes of arrangement and the treatment of insolvent trusts, and there was an independent review of the laws providing directors with a safe harbour from insolvent… Continue Reading

Insolvency insights in South Square Digest special edition with INSOL International

By Scott Atkins (AU), Noel McCoy (AU) and Lee Pascoe (AU) on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global, UK
This special edition of the South Square Digest features collaborative articles with members of INSOL International, with a particular emphasis on transaction avoidance. Read the latest insights from Scott Atkins, Partner and President of INSOL International; Noel McCoy, Partner and member of INSOL International; and Lee Pascoe, Special Counsel and member of INSOL International. Evidence gathering… Continue Reading

Global bankruptcy financial restructuring and insolvency group releases the Q2 2022 issue of International Restructuring Newswire

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in Australia, Bankruptcy Courts, Europe, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global, Singapore, US
Our global bankruptcy financial restructuring and insolvency team has released its quarterly International Restructuring Newswire. Our new issue features articles from Singapore, the US, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and Australia to help you stay current on recent developments in restructurings in various jurisdictions around the globe.   Recent case law developments in Singapore’s restructuring and insolvency laws show… Continue Reading

Use of public examination powers significantly increased by High Court of Australia

By Jeffery Black (AU) and Nathan Giacci on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency
In Walton v ACN 004 410 833 Limited (formerly Arrium Limited) (In Liquidation) [2022] HCA 3, the High Court of Australia handed down a decision regarding the purposes for which a Court may summon an officer of a corporation for examination about the corporation’s examinable affairs under s 596A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Act).… Continue Reading

The use of mediation to improve global restructuring outcomes in a post-pandemic world

By Scott Atkins (AU) on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global, Singapore, UK, US
Jurisdictions across the world have been seeking to simplify their domestic insolvency processes and create flexible restructuring alternatives to enable viable entities experiencing financial distress to have better prospects of recovery. In an article co-authored by Scott Atkins and Debra Grassgreen and published in the Global Restructuring Review, the authors discuss the potential uses of mediation… Continue Reading

John Martin appointed President of the International Insolvency Institute

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global
Norton Rose Fulbright is delighted to announce that restructuring and insolvency partner, John Martin has been appointed President of the International Insolvency Institute, succeeding Debra Grassgreen. Having been a Board member of the International Insolvency Institute since 2016, John most recently served as a Vice President. At the Institute’s annual conference in New York this… Continue Reading

Outer Space: The New Frontier for Restructuring and Insolvency

By Scott Atkins (AU) and Dr. Kai Luck (AU) on Posted in Australia, Financial Restructuring & Insolvency, Global
Activities in outer space have increased significantly over the last few years and there is a river of untapped potential in the modern ‘space economy’. In an article written for International Corporate Rescue, Scott Atkins and Dr Kai Luck explore the intersection between outer space activities and restructuring and insolvency. Read the article here.… Continue Reading

UNCITRAL Academy 2021 Webinar: Potential Uses of Mediation in Debt Restructuring and Insolvency

By Scott Atkins (AU) on Posted in Australia, Singapore
Webinar Global | September 08, 2021 | 09:00 – 17:30 AWST On 8 September 2021, Norton Rose Fulbright Partner and Australian Chair, Scott Atkins spoke on a panel at the inaugural United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Academy, as part of Singapore Convention Week 2021. The event, held annually, is co-organised by the Singapore Ministry of Law and… Continue Reading

APKI Webinar on COVID-19 Temporary Measures to Prevent the Increasing Insolvency and PKPU Petitions in Indonesia

By Scott Atkins (AU) on Posted in Australia
Scott Atkins joined the Indonesian Receivers and Administrators Association’s webinar on September 2, 2021 to discuss the temporary insolvency measures introduced in Australia and other jurisdictions in response to COVID-19. He also discussed some of the more enduring and permanent insolvency reforms that certain jurisdictions have begun to introduce. The webinar featured a keynote address… Continue Reading

2021 World Bank & INSOL International’s Legislative & Regulatory Group: COVID-19 response and the challenges ahead

By Scott Atkins (AU) on Posted in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Singapore, UK, US
This article was first published on the Private Sector Development Blog on July 27, 2021. The article is co-authored with Mahesh Uttamchandani (Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion, Infrastructure & Access in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice, World Bank Group) and Andrés F. Martínez (Chair, World Bank/INSOL International Legislative and Regulatory Group). COVID-19 continues to… Continue Reading

Global bankruptcy financial restructuring and insolvency group releases the Q3 2021 issue of International Restructuring Newswire

By Howard Seife (US) on Posted in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, UK, US
Our global bankruptcy financial restructuring and insolvency team has released its quarterly International Restructuring Newswire. In this issue, our team examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global restructuring market and the reform of legal framework that governs restructurings in Italy, Hong Kong, mainland China and Australia. Also, we are pleased to announce the appointment of… Continue Reading

Cross-border insolvency in Hong Kong: Will the new cooperation and coordination framework with mainland China provide the impetus for broader reform

By Scott Atkins (AU) and Dr. Kai Luck (AU) on Posted in Australia
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China recently signed a joint record of meeting on mutual recognition of, and assistance to bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings between the courts of the Mainland and of the HKSAR. International Corporate Rescue has now published an… Continue Reading

An Australian perspective – directors’ duties in an insolvency context: existing regulations and opportunities for reform under UNCITRAL Legislative Guide framework

By Scott Atkins (AU) and Dr. Kai Luck (AU) on Posted in Australia
UNCITRAL’s Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law is one of the key international policy frameworks intended to assist lawmakers globally to implement optimal insolvency processes.  It contains an outline of the objects and principles that should be reflected in domestic and cross-border insolvency systems to achieve the balance that a best-practice insolvency regime aspires to: efficiency… Continue Reading

Global bankruptcy financial restructuring and insolvency group releases the Q2 2021 issue of International Restructuring Newswire

By Howard Seife (US) on Posted in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, UK, US
This issue of the International Restructuring Newswire surveys recent developments in no fewer than five countries. In the United States, on the 15th anniversary of the enactment of the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency as Chapter 15, we present our annual survey of new case law in the US. These decisions have far-reaching influence in the… Continue Reading

Litigation trends survey

By NRF Digital Team on Posted in Australia, Canada, Europe, Singapore, UK, US
Fieldwork for Norton Rose Fulbright’s sixteenth annual litigation trends survey was conducted in December 2020, providing up-to-date insights on key US disputes trends across a tumultuous year and a look ahead into 2021. View our sixteenth annual litigation trends survey here for insights from 183 corporate counsel on disputes trends, the impact of COVID-19 on… Continue Reading

Small businesses, big changes: Australia’s new restructuring process

By Natasha Toholka (AU) and Cassie Mortimer (AU) on Posted in Australia
On 1 January 2021, significant changes to Australia’s restructuring and liquidation regime came into effect for small businesses, including a new restructuring process.  These changes were announced on 24 September 2020, however many aspects of the pending changes did not become clear until the bill and associated regulations were released in December 2020. These changes… Continue Reading

Contagion liability risk in the United States and Australia for parent entities arising from the insolvency of a subsidiary

By Scott Atkins (AU), Eric Daucher (US), Dr. Kai Luck (AU) and Francisco Vazquez (US) on Posted in Australia, US
With the influx of insolvency cases expected on a global basis in coming months as government support measures are wound back, now is an opportune time for businesses to consider the extent of their potential exposure if a subsidiary liquidates. In particular, can losses be isolated within a liquidating subsidiary, or will there be a contagion… Continue Reading

Modernising business registers and director identification numbers

By Natasha Toholka (AU) and Deborah Tsai on Posted in Australia
A package of five legislative reforms — Commonwealth Registers Bill 2019, Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries Modernisation and Other Measures) Bill 2019, Business Names Registration (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Bill 2019, Corporations (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Bill 2019, and National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Bill 2019 — received royal assent on 23 June… Continue Reading