Director Liability Article Results

• Directors Counsel A duty to one or all

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Jun 2010

  Professor Bob Baxt examines a recent appeals case that suggests directors may owe duties to individual shareholders in certain circumstances. A duty to one or all A basic (and some would say trite) rule of company law is that directors owe their duty to the company, the company being the sh...

• Inside AICD Opinion Safe harbour from insolvent seas

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Apr 2010

  Gabrielle Upton explains why a broad business judgement rule for directors could create better outcomes for companies in financial difficulty as well as their shareholders and creditors. Safe harbour from insolvent seas Laws to protect stakeholders in the event of insolvent trading are v...

• Viewpoint The insolvency debate

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Feb 2010

  The global financial crisis brought Australia’s insolvency laws back into the spotlight. Towards the end of last year, AICD and PPB hosted a discussion on whether these laws were adequate and why urgent reform was required. Viewpoint Australian businesses enjoyed a period of sustained economi...

• Directors Counsel Not far enough

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Dec 2009

  Professor Bob Baxt argues that MINCO’s recently released principles governing director liability are a step in the right direction, but do not go far enough. Not far enough The announcement on 6 November by the Minister for Corporate Law Chris Bowen that the Ministerial Council for Corpo...

• Inside AICD Conference Navigating unchartered waters

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 May 2009

  The theme of this year’s AICD Company Directors Conference in June is Navigating Uncharted Waters . We asked some speakers how directors are steering their organisations through the financial crisis and how they should prepare for a recovery. Navigating unchartered waters Alan Camer...

• Feature Avoiding corporate collapse

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Apr 2009

  The number of companies going into liquidation has surged. Tony Featherstone reveals some of the lessons learnt from those at the coalface of corporate collapse. Avoiding corporate collapse More directors will be forced this year to make a life-changing decision: let t...

• ASIC Report Insolvency Act early

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Mar 2009

  Insolvency: Act early The year ahead is expected to be one of the toughest facing company directors for many years. The uncertain economic climate is placing significant strain on corporate cash flows and profits. Already, statistics collated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ...

• Feature Walking the tightrope

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Feb 2009

  Domini Stuart reports on the tough balancing act directors face when determining whether a troubled company is trading while insolvent. Walking the tightrope Preventing insolvent trading could well be the most important of all company directors’ duties. Trading wh...

• Spoken Word

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Feb 2007

  Michael Hughes, a partner at Minter Ellison, outlines how directors of Australian subsidiary companies can be confronted with stark challenges when an overseas parent company becomes insolvent. Protecting your reputation and assets A global corporation typically will operate in Australia throu...

• CEO Report

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Nov 2006

  Extend the statutory business judgement rule The statutory Business Judgement Rule (BJR) was introduced with some fanfare in the CLERP 1 reforms, becoming law in 2000. It expands on the duty of care and diligence in the Corporations Act, providing a defence for directors and officers who might be a...

• Law reporter

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Jul 2006

  Professor Bob Baxt provides an overview of recent court decisions affecting the role and responsibility of directors. Many of the matters examined in the Law Reporter are discussed in greater detail in The Baxt Report published by Thomson Publishing. Derivative action rights for sh...

• increasing the load

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Nov 2005

  Increasing the load When the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer,  Chris Pearce, announced on October 12 that there would be reforms to Australian insolvency laws, the first since the Harmer Report in the early 1990s, he also indicated that he would be referring the matter to the Corporati...

• a sharper focus on insolvency

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Nov 2005

  A sharper focus on insolvency   ASIC is taking a much stronger interest in insolvency and directors failing to do their duty will quickly find themselves in court says commissioner Professor Berna Collier   ASIC takes a particular interest in insolvency issues, and has recently increased i...

• The role and duties of company officers Law Reporter

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 May 2005

  When Justice Neville Owen was completing his report into the collapse of the HIH insurance company one of the critical questions he faced was whether the Corporations Act and the general law relating to the activities of company directors and officers should be revisited to place a greater burden of...

• Insolvent trading the final say Law Reporter

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Jun 2004

  Expect to see further strong penalties against directors seen to ignore insolvent trading provisions Insolvent trading - the final say? Expect to see further strong penalties against directors seen to ignore insolvent trading provisions While the insolvent trading prohibition (section 588G of th...

• the thin red line of trading while insolvent Cover Story

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Jun 2004

  There’s no mistaking ASIC’s commitment to clamp down on trading while insolvent. In the past eight months the corporate watchdog has made "surveillance visits" to 400 companies and appointed an external administrator or liquidator to a further 40 companies representing a wide cross-section of commer...

• Why bullet proofing was a myth Cover Story

  Content Type: CDM Article

  01 Feb 2004

  Voluntary administration and deeds of company arrangement fall well short of protecting directors against claims of insolvent trading, writes Karen O’Flynn* Why bullet proofing was a myth Voluntary administration and deeds of company arrangement fall well short of protecting directors against claim...