Insolvency

Hayley Joan Street of Richmond, Victoria has been disqualified from managing corporations for four years following her involvement in two failed companies.

The Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal, on the joint application of the parties, agreed to replace an order cancelling a liquidator's licence and replace it with a period of suspension and a further period during which he must not act as sole liquidator.

The phoenix is a creature of ancient Greek mythology, It was creature of Paradise and, when it became old and frail, it would self-immolate and a younger, stronger, even more beautiful version of itself would rise from the flames. It is also to be found in Egyption myth where, as the "Lord of Jubilees" it symbolised a fresh start The symbolism of the old going down in flames and something new and shiny, but essentially the same creature, replacing it is a far from mythical part of the corporate landscape. Unlike the bird, a corporate phoenix is rarely a good thing.

A report in Canadian media says that privately held Purdue Pharma LP, a pharmaceutical company registered in Connecticut, USA, is "exploring" the possibility of using what the USA calls "bankrupty" (a term it uses for both corporate and personal insolvency) to manage the risk of litigation arising from the drug OxyContin. But the company is not even a little bit insolvent. Using insolvency processes to manage risks in litigation is a strategy that isn't new.

A new report by ASIC into its supervision of registered liquidators between January 2017 to June 2018 reveals significant review of the regulation of the sector - and some pretty serious negative news about it.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has applied to the Federal Court to wind up Traditional Therapy Clinics Limited (a Chinese Traditional Medicine company) after it was delisted by the Australian Stock Exchange and has asked the court that two members of Ernst and Young be appointed as liquidators.

So, now you know what all the letters mean, let's get on with the story which is, in part, about Red Stox and the continuing risks some of them pose for shareholders, regulators and sponsors to say nothing of those usually small businesses which put their faith in them ....

On 5th July 2018, a UK company, Gin Festival Limited, went into administration and its website www.ginfestival.com was taken down .. So, what's this, then...?

The following is taken from Carillion's website. We acknowledge their rights but notwithstanding that, we reproduce it here in the expectation that the website will be shortly taken down as the liquidation proceeds.

Carillion is one of the UK's largest companies. But at 7 am, UK time, this morning, the company's board issued a statement that took no one by surprise. We've been here before - frantic over-weekend meetings, men in dark suits (these days there are women, too) strutting in with their brief-cases, the expectation of an enormous payday always puts a spring in the step of insolvency practitioners. Men in pin-striped suits leaving meetings stony faced: they are the bankers who decided that their duty to their shareholders exceeded their desire to prevent collapse. The shell-shocked directors who, as soon as they sign-off on the appointment of liquidators lose all authority, now only facing only a series of interviews with insolvency practitioners, possibly prosecutors, certainly Parliamentary Select Committees. And that's before the political fall-out starts in earnest.