The Court directed that liquidators/receivers of a ten-company corporate group were justified in not pursuing historical loan receivables totalling approximately $3.37 million, given the absence of documentation, likely limitation defences, costs disproportionate to recovery, and overarching obligations under the Civil Procedure Act 2010. The Court approved remuneration of approximately $525,000 on a time-cost basis (with a 2.5% discount applied to past work periods for instances of potentially excessive time and insufficient delegation to junior staff), including prospective remuneration capped at $116,652.85, and granted special leave under s 488(2) of the Corporations Act to distribute surpluses to shareholders and trust beneficiaries via an interim distribution of up to 70% followed by a final distribution. The Court also directed that liquidators were justified in admitting inter-company loan proofs of debt notwithstanding their conflict of interest as liquidators of both creditor and debtor companies within the group, finding the loans were sufficiently evidenced by financial statements and not statute-barred due to acknowledgment within the limitation period.
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