A warning to Liquidators: comply with your disclosure obligations or face dismissal of your unfair preference proceedings

In Clifton (Liquidator) v Kerry J Investment Pty Ltd trading as Clenergy [2020] FCAFC 5, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia found that: where the Liquidators failed to comply with their discovery obligations and the Court could not be satisfied regarding the existence of documents which might be deployed by innocent parties to meet […]

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An overview of the changes to the witnessing requirements for Queensland Land Registry forms

The Natural Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2019 (Qld) introduced additional requirements for witnessing documents including: requiring the witness to take reasonable steps to verify the identity of an individual and to ensure the individual is the person entitled to sign the document; requiring the witness to keep a written record of the steps they took […]

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The Model Litigant post the Hayne Royal Commission – walking a tightrope?

A great deal has already been written about the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (the Banking Royal Commission) and the scandals which emerged throughout. Commissioner Hayne’s ire (and that of the public and media) was felt by many, including the regulators, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and […]

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Court endorses close oversight of conduct of liquidation by priority creditors including FEG and GEERS

In the matter of 1st Fleet Pty Ltd (in liquidation), the Commonwealth applied for orders that the liquidators of 10 companies in liquidation provide specific information and/or produce certain documents to the Commonwealth. This request related to the validity of the constitution of and certain steps taken by the Committee of Inspection and the reasonableness […]

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