In a winding up, it is the duty of the liquidator to realise all assets of the company. This includes outstanding loans to shareholders and directors. In this article, we explain what happens to some of these loans — loans that comply with Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) — in the winding up of a company.
The primary way in which creditors can influence a voluntary administration is through participation in either the first or second creditors’ meeting — meetings chaired by the voluntary administrator. Through this process creditors can replace voluntary administrators, have a say on remuneration and costs, approve of a debt compromise and more.
For many, if not most, company directors and owners in Australia, private practice accountants are the first port-of-call for insolvency advice.
Voluntary liquidation (CVL) and voluntary administration (VA) have a range of pros and cons, relative to each other. Here we look at the advantages of voluntary administration, including the ability to turn around the business, director initiation and the breathing space it provides to directors.
Company reorganisation or restructuring is the most common way of turning around a struggling business that is insolvent, or at risk of becoming so.
In Australia, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) is the government body in charge of regulating liquidators and other aspects of the insolvency process. Here we examine ASIC’s role in detail and compare it with the approach taken across the Tasman.
The winding up or liquidation of a company means realising the assets of the business and distributing the proceeds to unsecured creditors. The problem: some portion of the business’ total value is always lost in an insolvent liquidation.
Businesses can struggle or fail in different ways. Consider an unprofitable transport business that hasn’t been able to put up rates in 20 years due to stiff competition. Or, consider the same type of business, where its unprofitability is caused by the inability to pay debts entered into by prior directors.
Seinfeld is famously referred to as a sitcom about ‘nothing’. Sometimes liquidations and voluntary administrations in Australia lose the plot and directors would be well served to conduct thorough due diligence before appointment and understand the dynamics at play.
When a business is in serious financial trouble, what is the best path ahead? This is, of course, a question for the directors of struggling businesses themselves, but it’s also a question for their lawyers, accountants and creditors.
As with any profession, it is crucial that there is some level of oversight of the actions of insolvency practitioners. This is the only way to ensure that they are living up to their professional and legal standards.
A key purpose, arguably the prime purpose of a liquidation, is to give creditors the best possible return on their debt. After all, in the case of an insolvent liquidation, it is almost always the demands of creditors (such as through a statutory demand, see below) which precipitate a winding up or liquidation process.