INSOL 2017 Day 1 Small Practice Issues Open Meeting (19/3)

What was discussed

Topics discussed during the Small Practice Group (SPG) meeting included:

• The brand new Office-holder Remuneration report
• Part 1 - a case entitled "Where has all the money gone" liquidation of a UK firm, offshore payments, San Diego and the Seychelles
• Part 2 - IP Regulation - Politics of Change.

Office Holder Remuneration

The office holder remuneration report covering multiple jurisdictions provided a good insight into the various approaches that governments and regulators take on remuneration for insolvency practitioners. Of note, the German submission outlines an interesting combination of a percentage calculation basis combined with a fixation of the remuneration by the courts. The practical benefit of this, which is noted in the submission, is that the administrative efforts for recording and controlling files are less demanding and the focus can be on a better return to creditors and engagement with stakeholders. It's definitely worth a read.

Part 1 - The case - where has all the money gone.

This was certainly an eye-opener for me in the context of the ability to access both information and enforcing the return of capital from jurisdictions where previously, perhaps even as recent as pre-GFC it would have been considered a lost cause.

There was also great insight provided by the panel about dealing with payments into China as foreign individuals and corporations as well as how to deal with potentially illegally obtained information by a third party (not the IP) to then proceed appropriately through in petitioning the courts to gain access legally to the information.

The case involved a $15,000,000 payment made by a shareholder/director shortly prior to the appointment of an administrator for a UK entity. The payment went into a Chinese bank account, passed onto a German bank branch in the USA having been washed through the BVI. It was amazing to see how quite expertly and quickly, a collaborative effort on the part of IPs would be able to find, execute and return such funds. It was a very impressive panel.

Part 2 - IP Regulation the politics of change

The panel's discussions around a number of issues including:

• The role of an IP, the requirements and the regulation;
• Considerations of conflicts of interest and the dreaded DIRI in Australia;
• Timelines around actions to be brought and taken
• Expectations of creditors, stakeholders and regulators

Tying all of these together was a common theme the well thought out regulation helps assist all parties - debtors, creditors, IPs and stakeholders.

Unfortunately, the desire to regulate to 'solve a problem' for specific groups within insolvency matters, without considering the outcomes for all can end up creating a negative environment for all concerned.

The panel discussion was particularly useful for the Vendorable team to gain insights into each of the markets we operate in and the expectations of IPs.

Final comment

You don't know what you don't know.

It is clear that the gathering of the SPG members for these discussions is an invaluable meeting of the minds. The sharing of knowledge the extension of practice networks and the subsequent ability to draw on assistance from this cohort standards the SPG members in good stead for the future as IPs.

Thank you to the following for making this meeting of the minds possible

• Hans Klopper (Independent Advisory) Small Practice Issues Chair
• Eric Baijal (BBM Solicitors)
• Adrian Hyde (CVR Global)
• Christine Kang (JunHe LLP)
• Bernd Klose (Raklose)
• Martin Kenney (Martin Kenney & Co Solicitors)
• Sally Nash (O'Neill Partners)
• John Mairo (Porzio)

INSOL contact

For further information about the small practice group, the technical materials presented or any other information on INSOL please contact Louise Jennings (Technical Officer) [email protected].