Liquidators for collapsed forestry giant Gunns Plantations have lost a High Court appeal over $1.2 million in payments to a former supplier that confirmed the so-called peak indebtedness rule does not apply in Australian insolvency law.
Insolvency practitioners are holding their breath as the High Court hears a case that could abolish a key rule used by liquidators in recouping payments to unsecured creditors at a time when the industry is bracing for a possible recession.
The High Court will clarify the so-called peak indebtedness rule used by liquidators recouping payments to unsecured creditors, granting a special leave application brought by the liquidators of collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.
Former legal representatives of companies in the Mayfair 101 group are considering an application to strike out part of an appeal that alleges their “flagrant incompetence” led to director James Mawhinney copping a 20-year ban on soliciting investor funds.
An unsecured creditor of collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group has partially succeeded on appeal of a judgment that ordered repayment of $2 million that Gunns had transferred in 2021 despite trading while insolvent.