Starting a business can be a mystifying process. It involves overcoming complex and seemingly never-ending challenges that can be frustrating to navigate and sometimes will not lead to a quick return. As such, when considering whether to begin such a difficult undertaking, it is immensely important to clarify some of the ideas surrounding starting a business.
A zombie company is a business that barely scrapes by and is always short of cash. The problem with zombie companies is that they can be easily tipped over the edge into insolvency when something goes wrong. Read our article to learn more about the signs, symptoms and consequences of zombie companies.
A trading trust is a trust over goodwill and business assets with the trustee being the legal person responsible to creditors. A trading trust is usually a discretionary trust whose trustee is a company, that is used to trade for the benefit of the beneficiaries. As with a non-trading trust, a trading trust separates legal ownership of assets from beneficial ownership and control. The controllers of the business are the owners and their family who exercise a controlling mind through their appointment as directors of the trustee company.
In recent years, there has been a real ‘gold rush’ for cryptocurrency. And while cryptocurrency needs to be ‘mined’, just like the real stuff, it is much easier to transport and, potentially, keep secure.
Pre-insolvency advisers are professionals who help business owners to conduct a root cause analysis to understand why their business is failing and then help them to develop a turnaround strategy (i.e. what to do next) or if this is not possible, plan an orderly winding up.
Illegal phoenix activity — the ‘re-birth’ of a business in new corporate feathers to avoid its obligations — has been a major concern of regulators in Australia for the last 25 years. In this ultimate guide we explain everything you ever wanted (and didn’t want) to know about phoenix activity in Australia.
In article: The COVID-19 economic meltdown has already led to some quick changes to Australian bankruptcy and insolvency law. However, as the basic tools for dealing with insolvency remain the same, it is worth looking at the general regulatory landscape…
How do we determine if a construction company is insolvent? Insolvency, as defined under Section 95A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), occurs when a business or an individual is unable to meet their debts as they become due and payable.
A receiver must be an independent and suitably qualified individual. This means, in nearly all cases, that the receiver must be a registered liquidator and satisfy a range of other requirements that apply to receivers.
On Friday 18 October 2019 our firm hosted a charity fundraiser for Cure Cancer Australia at Sokyo Restaurant at the Star. The cost of the event was entirely subsidised by the firm, so all monies raised by donations and our…
Who is Professor Jason Harris? Professor Harris is one of the most knowledgeable insolvency researchers and academics in Australia. He is a full professor and one of the two authors of the principal textbook of Insolvency Law in Australia (Keay’s…
Sewell & Kettle were very fortunate last week to be invited by Cure Cancer and The Can Too Foundation to participate in a tour of their cancer research lab at the University of New South Wales. Sewell & Kettle is…