In the recent case of Buzzle Operations Pty Ltd (in liq) v Apple Computer Australia Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 109, the issue of whether a secured creditor may be exposed to director’s risks as a shadow director by exerting influence over a company was considered amongst other interesting topics.

In the aforementioned case, Buzzle was created by the merger of six Apple retailers. Apple held a charge over Buzzle’s assets. Apple demonstrat [ More ]

Outsourcing or offshore outsourcing is where an organisation, most commonly a business enterprise, engages an external organisation in a different country to carry out some of its labour intensive service administrative functions, for example, data processing and customer support.

The trend for Australian business enterprises to use offshore outsourcing has grown at an alarming rate since its early beginnings when, by outsourcing IT se [ More ]

You may recall from one of our recent newsletters about concurrent appointments and when a receiver may be appointed by a secured creditor or the court to take control of some or all of the company’s assets.  A recent Federal Court decision has clarified some previous inconsistencies in the application of Section 433 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“the Act”) in respect of employee entitlements for a company in receivership.

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Directors of companies are the brains of the organisations. They determine how their companies are run and control the direction of the companies. Attached to the domineering powers that directors enjoy are onerous duties, one of which is the duty to prevent insolvent trading.

The idea behind setting up a company is so that the business has its own separate legal entity and shareholders and the Directors of the Company are not held per [ More ]

A Personal Guarantee is a legally binding agreement between a third party and a Creditor, whereby the guarantor is required to settle obligations of the Debtor toward the Creditor.

Personal guarantees are usually entered into by the Director/Directors of a Company agreeing to meet a debt owed by the Company to the Creditor when the Company is unable to meet their obligations.

A guarantee is usually entered into when a Co [ More ]

Director Penalty Notices (“DPN”) have undergone some significant changes with effect from 1 July 1 July 2010.

The DPN regime will be familiar to many. Just briefly, a Director of a Company that has a tax debt to the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) for unremitted PAYG withholdings may be served with a DPN. The aim of a DPN is to enforce a personal liability on the Directors for the unremitted PAYG Withholdings.

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