In signing off on the request, Justice Jacqueline Gleeson heard Ferrier Hodgson liquidators Philip Quinlin, Morgan Kelly and Stewart McCallum faced a challenge in keeping the trading platform’s 12,500 investor creditors informed about the proceedings. Halifax also has a much smaller number of trade creditors.

The online trading platform, which collapsed at the end of last year, maintained email addresses for at least 90% of those creditors, while it had mailing addresses for just 15%, the court heard.

Quinlan warned the court the liquidators might not be ability to meet their initial reporting obligations given the large number of creditors who have not opted to receive communications electronically.

The cost of sending notices by mail would be around $100,000, compared to a cost of $12,000 if the notices were sent electronically, the court heard.

Justice Gleeson said that since the creditors had dealt with the company online regularly, electronic communication — via email and the trading platform itself — was the most practical means of communicating with them.

The judge also waived the requirement that the liquidators provide creditors with a client list in order to preserve the value of the list, which the liquidators are looking into selling.

Creditors voted March 20 to have the company wound up. During the first creditors meeting, held December 20 of last year, some creditors indicated they were open to a solution that would involve pooling investor funds to facilitate a faster payout, which the chair indicating this could be accomplished through a deed of company arrangement.

The court heard about various difficulties the liquidators have identified in the proceedings, including sorting out the company’s 38 bank accounts, of which 18 may be held on trust for the benefit of clients and comingled funds in certain accounts.

In January, ASIC suspended the company’s financial services licence until January 2020. The liquidators were previously appointed joint voluntary administrators in November of last year.

ASIC said it was keeping an eye on the administration process and has been meeting with the liquidators regularly for updates on their investigation and findings.

The regulator said it would “further consider” the circumstances surrounding Halifax’s collapse, including allegations of misconduct raised by the administrators, now liquidators, particularly in relation to the handling of client money, which ASIC said it took “particularly seriously”.

Breaching requirements for handling client money can attract criminal penalties, ASIC said.

The liquidators are represented by K&L Gates.