An IT distribution company that has operated for almost 20 years has collapsed into voluntary administration.
Altech Computers was established in 1997 and has offices and warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Hong Kong.
The business featured in BRWs Fast 100 for several years between 2004 and 2006, coming in at number 100 in 2005 with turnover of more than $63 million for the 2004-05 financial year.
Altech Computers was also named Microsofts Australian distribution partner of the year in 2008.
The companys website also claims it has more than 6000 customers Australia-wide.
PPB Advisory was called in to manage the business on December …
Read the full article at: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/49279-award-winning-it-company-collapses-into-voluntary-administration.html
One of the of the nations top insolvency lawyers yesterday urged the Turnbull government to go further in its business law reforms that are aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs to have a go.
Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Leon Zwier, backing central planks of the governments insolvency reforms in its innovation statement, said the new protections would make it far easier to reconstruct stricken companies.
But he added that reform should be extended to introduce a ban on creditors from taking legal action when schemes of arrangement used to restructure distressed but solvent companies were put forward.
While the schemes were used successfully in the reconstruction of companies such as Nine Entertainment, there had been concerns that indi…
Read the full article at: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/12/9/australian-news/insolvency-reforms-dont-go-far-enough
Mining company Venture Minerals has applied to the Supreme Court to wind up the Tasmanian environmental group Tarkine National Coalition (TNC), on the grounds of insolvency.
In the Supreme Court this morning, lawyer Shaun McElwaine said his client, Venture Minerals, had the consent of a liquidator and intended to advertise the matter in local newspapers.
Lawyer acting for TNC Vanessa Bleyer asked that the matter be adjourned until at least the end of February next year because her client needed to determine if the application was properly made.
She said TNC was not insolvent because the State of Tasmania owed it $54,837.53, and that the statutory order against …
Read the full article at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-10/mining-company-asks-court-to-wind-up-insolvent-green-group/7018554
The new insolvency trading provisions proposed as part of the governments innovation package this week are a win for investors, but also a win for small to medium enterprises.
For the government, there is no question the reforms will have the desired effect of encouraging a cultural shift towards sensible risk-taking and a have a go mentality when it comes to investing in start-ups, but also for investment in SMEs. In particular, personal insolvency laws limiting the punitive bankruptcy period to one year as opposed to three will remove a significant barrier to investment in both start-ups and SMEs.
SMEs currently suffer the most under the current insolvent trading provisions, so it stands to reason that they have the most to gain fr…
Read the full article at: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/12/10/small-business-sme/insolvency-reforms-are-step-right-direction
Bench offers limited and unidimensional explanations to petitioners queries
The Supreme Court judgment upholding the new Haryana panchayat law, which limits the voters freedom to choose his own candidate in a participatory democracy, offers limited and unidimensional explanations to questions and issues raised by parties in court.
The judgment by a Bench led by Justice J. Chelameswar does not explain why it considers the reasons for disqualification in Section 175 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act 2015, which include the lack of minimum educational qualification, electricity bill arrears, agricultural loan arrears and absence of a functional toilet at home, reasonable.
In fact, the entire verdict hin…
Read the full article at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/questions-on-haryana-panchayat-law/article7983643.ece
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 6,741 Sarawakians were declared bankrupt between 2010 and Oct 31 this year, the Dewan Negara was told yesterday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said from the total, 2,371 of them are between the age of 35 and 44 years old.
“1,983 cases or 29.42% involved those aged between 25 and 34 years old, and 1,08 cases (23.85%) are between 45 and 54 years old,” she said.
Nancy added that of the total figure, 4,986 individuals or 73.97% are male.
She also pointed out that during the same period, there were some 25,764 youths aged between 25 and 34 years old who declared themselves bankrupt.
“Some of the mai…
Read the full article at: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1634702
- Publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell died after falling off his yacht in 1991
- He left his widow Betty and seven children laden with nothing but debt
- Family members have lurched between controversy, financial disaster
- Daughter Isabel is latest victim of curse after declaring herself bankrupt
Sanchez Manning for The Mail on Sunday
The curse of Robert Maxwell has struck again after one of the disgraced publishing tycoon’s troubled offspring declared herself bankrupt, The Ma…
Read the full article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3357827/Maxwell-curse-strikes-daughter-goes-bankrupt-New-financial-blow-troubled-family-disgraced-publishing-tycoon.html
International IT company enters voluntary administration
Altech computers, a company with offices and warehouse in Hong Kong, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Auckland has collapsed into voluntary administration.
The business was established in 1997, was featured in BRW’s Fast 100, and was named Microsoft’s Australian distribution partner of the year in 2008.
According to the company’s website – they have more than 6000 customers in Australia alone.
Andrew Scott and Daniel Walley were appointed as administrators on the December 3 and the first creditor’s meeting is scheduled to be held in Sydney on December 11.
It has been reported that the company is millions of dollars in debt.
Dick Smith falls out of ASX200
S&P Dow Jones made a statement on Friday regarding the Dick Smith’s future in the ASX200. It was confirmed that the company would be removed from the ASX200 after close of trade on the 18th of December.
Dick Smith has taken action after writing down the value of its inventories by 20% last week – worth roughly $60 million.
The company launched a massive discounting effort last week to raise some cash before Christmas time.
The company made the announcement on their Facebook page on Friday morning, revealing that selected products were now discounted by up to 70% in store.
While the advertised specials are currently only available in Dick Smith stores, the company’s website is advertising a 48hr sell-a-thon.
Macquarie Bank cops criticism for ‘get rich quick’ pitches
The bank is the target of customer backlash for allegedly failing to convey the risks and complexity of their financial products to unsophisticated investors.
Financial advisor and self-described ‘Dream Maker’ Peter Spann has been accused of aggressively mass-marketing Macquarie structured investment products between 2006 and 2009 through his financial advisory business, the now defunct Freeman Fox.
Peter Spann travelled the country giving sales pitches – which some attendees believe were given greater credibility due to the presence of Macquarie bank staff.
Macquarie has maintained that they are not responsible for any of the financial advice given by third party vendors such as Freeman Fox.
The financial products had been marketed as “capital guaranteed” meaning that investors could not lose their principal.
But some investors are claiming that they did not understand that they would be locked in and have to pay annual interest payments in advance, even if the investments lost a significant portion of their value.
Macquarie has declined to confirm how many people invested in the products through Freeman Fox as well as the monetary value of these investments.
100 franchisees show interest in legal action against 7-Eleven
The lawyer in charge of preparing the class action has confirmed that 40 store owners had formally signed up for the class action suit, while another 60 had expressed interest.
An independent panel was created to investigate the alleged wage fraud and so far the panel has received over 1000 claims from current and former employees.
It has been reported that thousands of 7-Eleven workers, past and present, have endured wage exploitation. The wage fraud bill could be as high as $300 million according to some estimates.
The panel is expected to start making compensation payments to the eligible workers before Christmas.
Yesterday was the deadline for a profit sharing agreement between head office and franchisees.
The deal would involve 7-Eleven head office paying for the first $25 million in back-pay claims, franchisees would pay the next $5 million and all payments after this will be split evenly between the franchisees and head office.
The company has not yet released the final number of franchisees that have signed up for this deal.