Insolvency Guardian Media Centre
One of the documents lawyers are often asked to prepare is a letter of demand.
A letter of demand is usually issued in relation to an outstanding debt and will often warn of legal action unless the debt is paid by a date.
However, the humble letter of demand can also sometimes give rise to unintended consequences for the party issuing the demand. An example is in the context of unfair preference claims in insolvency law.
In simple terms, an unfair preference occurs when a creditor receives a payment (for a debt) from a company who subsequently goes into liquidation giving them an unfair preference over other creditors. If a liquidator of the company who made the payment can prove that the creditor obtained an unfair preference, then it can…
Read the full article at: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5608832/more-to-letters-of-demand/
PAYDAY loans giant Wonga is said to be on the brink of going under.
The company was kept afloat three weeks ago thanks to a £10million emergency cash injection from shareholders.
PA:Press Association
But sources say it merely encouraged a new wave of compensation claims for alleged unfair debt collection practices.
Wonga has been accused of targeting vulnerable customers and charging sky-high interest.
Administrators are understood to be on stand-by to take over the loans giant if it is declared insolvent.
Insiders say news of the lifeline only spurred fresh legal action from claims management companies who have been circling Wonga for years.
Alamy
Read the full article at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7105601/wonga-brink-collapse-compensation-claims/
NATHAN Tinkler has always been very good at collecting enemies.
The one-time billionaire’s volatility and reputation for not paying his debts has seen him fallout with countless friends and people hes worked with, even his own family.
Amid the wreckage of his collapsed business empire is his only sibling Donna Dennis and former trusted lieutenant Troy Palmer, both declared bankrupt due to their time as directors of Tinkler Group companies.
But there is one relationship the former mining magnate has always been very careful to preserve.
His friendship with billionaire retail king Gerry Harvey.
Its a relationship that has served Mr Tinkler well, despite Mr Harveys at times blunt assessment of his friends prickly personality.
A former Tinkler …
Read the full article at: https://www.theherald.com.au/whats-on/theatre-and-arts/5600789/how-nathan-tinkler-pulled-off-his-great-escape-from-bankruptcy/
Britains biggest payday lender, Wonga, is teetering on the brink of collapse following a surge of customer compensation claims in recent weeks that could cause it to call in administrators.
The short term loan provider has reportedly lined up Grant Thornton the accountancy firm, to handle a potential administration of the company should its board believe it is unable to avoid falling into insolvency. The report from Sky News said Wonga could appoint Grant Thornton as soon as this week.
The flood of claims facing the company relate to loans taken out before 2014, when Wonga was the poster child for outrage in the payday lending industry that resulted in rules capping the cost of borrowing. Campaigners claimed the firm and others in th…
Read the full article at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/26/uks-biggest-payday-lender-wonga-on-the-brink-of-collapse
Wonga, the UKs biggest payday lender, is considering insolvency following a surge in customer compensation claims in recent weeks.
On Sunday, the company confirmed that it was assessing all options after a sharp rise in complaints from customers claiming they should not have been given loans.
Placing the UK business into administration is understood to be one option being considered by Wonga, which targets customers shunned by traditional lenders. In addition to the UK market, Wonga also offers payday loans in Spain, Poland and South Africa.
On Sunday, Sky News reported that Wonga had lined up Grant Thornton, the professional services firm, to handle a potential administration. Grant Thornton declined to comment.
The development comes …
Read the full article at: https://www.ft.com/content/a90fff66-a93e-11e8-89a1-e5de165fa619
In a nod to his idol, Mr Wilson renamed several of his previous failed ventures after fictional businesses in the movie Wall Street and its sequel Money Never Sleeps just days before they were put into external administration in 2015.
Poster for the hit 1987 film.
Two of the collapsing companies in his Mider property group were named after Anacott Steel and Teldar Paper, stocks that Michael Douglas’ character manipulated as part of an insider-trading scam and hostile takeover in the hit 1987 film.
Others were rebranded Churchill Scwartz [sic] and Keller Zabel, the investment banks portrayed in the sequel.
This apparent mimicking of Gekko was raised in the Supreme Court during a lawsuit relating to the businesses, where Mr Wilson’s actions …
Read the full article at: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bankrupt-gordon-gekko-scores-development-on-government-land-20180825-p4zzr4.html
Directors who have dissolved companies to avoid paying workers or pensions could be disqualified or fined by authorities for the first time. The move is part of a government initiative to safeguard workers, pensions and small suppliers when a company goes bust.
The Observer reported in January that the government was preparing to crack down on irresponsible company bosses in the wake of the collapse of Carillion. The construction and outsourcing giant went into liquidation with a deficit in its pension scheme of £900m.
Other major company collapses that have forced the government to action include the demise in 2016 of the BHS chain formerly owned by Sir Philip Green which had a pensions deficit of more than £500m.
Theresa May said …
Read the full article at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/26/crackdown-to-safeguard-staff-pensions-when-firms-go-bust-bosses-fined
Image copyright
Getty Images
There have been several high-profile company insolvencies in 2018 so far
Company bosses who dissolve their firms to avoid paying off staff or meeting pension commitments will risk being hit with fines, under new government plans.
Ministers want tougher insolvency laws, after recent high-profile collapses devastated workers and pension schemes.
The Insolvency Service could also make companies prove they can afford to pay salaries and pension payments if they are also paying dividends to investors.
The TUC says…
Read the full article at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45302629
Reuters/Singapore
Singapore-listed Noble Group Ltd faces a make-or-break shareholders meeting tomorrow as investors vote on a $3.5bn debt restructuring plan that its creditors and board say is vital to prevent insolvency.
The company, once a global commodity trader with ambitions to rival Glencore or Vitol, has shrunk to an Asian-centric business focused on coal and freight trading after it slashed hundreds of jobs and sold prized assets to cut debt.
Noble, whose market value has been nearly wiped out from $6bn in February 2015, is expected to win the required simple majority of voters in attendance at the meeting, said multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Equity owners include China Investment Corp and Abu Dhabi fund Goldilocks Inv…
Read the full article at: https://www2.gulf-times.com/story/603918/Noble-Group-s-fate-hangs-on-investors-restructuring-vote
Directors who have dissolved companies to avoid paying staff or pensions could be fined or disqualified for the first time, the government has announced.
In a package of reforms announced today, struggling companies will be given more time to explore rescue options while shareholders will be given more powers to hold boardrooms to account.
Greg Clark, business secretary, launched a consultation into corporate governance and insolvency in March, in the wake of what it called recent corporate governance failures.
That was widely seen as a reference to the failures of high street retailer BHS and Carillion, the construction and outsourcing group.
BHS went into administration in April 2016 and its stores shut soon afterwards, throwing 11,00…
Read the full article at: https://www.ft.com/content/635ab314-a874-11e8-89a1-e5de165fa619
US President Donald Trump promised to help Italy finance its public debt, which is the largest in Europe, the daily Corriere della Sera reported Friday.
The paper quoted Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who visited Washington at the end of last month, as saying: “Donald Trump offered Italy help from the United States to finance its debt next year.”
The newspaper did not provide any more deta…
Read the full article at: https://www.france24.com/en/20180824-trump-promised-help-italy-with-debt-report
MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump told the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a recent meeting in Washington the United States was ready to offer Italy help in funding its public debt next year, Il Corriere della Sera reported on Friday.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump reaches out to Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Citing three unnamed Italian senior officials, the newspaper said Trump made the offer to Conte during their meeting in Washington at the end of July.
The paper said the premier spoke of the offer to officials upon his return from Washington but did not explained what fo…
Read the full article at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-us-debt/trump-offered-italy-help-to-fund-public-debt-next-year-newspaper-idUSKCN1L90KC