Draft Insolvency Law Instrument Package to Complement Insolvency Reform Act 2016 in Commonwealth

A series of draft rules and regulations have been released for public submissions regarding the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016. The draft rules and regulations are designed to complement and give full effect to the Act which received royal assent earlier this year (2016).

Insolvency Practice Rules (Corporations) 2016 and Insolvency Practice Rules (Bankruptcy) 2016

These rules essentially provide for a range of amendments regarding the external administration of companies and the registration and discipline of external administrators as well as the external administration of private individuals and the registration and discipline of bankruptcy trustees. The Act repealed the previous requirements for the establishment of a Register of Liquidators and Register of Trustees and replaced it with similar provisions in the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations) and Insolvency Practice Schedule (Bankruptcy). These draft rules, among various other things explored in the draft explanatory memorandum, prescribe the range of information to be published on the register which was not covered in the Act. The details to be published are details of each practitioner including:

• The name of the individual, including firm address and place of business;
• When the individual’s registration commenced;
• Any disciplinary action that may have been taken regarding their registration; and
• Any conditions placed on their registration.

Corporations and Other Legislation Amendment (Insolvency Law Reform) Regulation 2016

This draft regulation will amend a series of legislation consequential on the Insolvency Practice Rules. This instrument also provides for the partial delay of the corporate law amendments under the Act. Schedule 2 to the Regulation also sets out the transitional provisions which effect a split commencement for the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations). The split commencement of the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Bankruptcy) will be put into effect through the draft Insolvency Law Reform (Transitional Provisions) Regulation 2016.

Draft Corporations (Fees) Amendment Regulation 2016

The Fees Regulations are amended to reflect the replacement of the current processes for the registration of a registered liquidator.

Currently, the draft rules and regulations are opened for public submission with a closing date of 4 November 2016. 

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Insolvency Practice Rules 2016 and other legislative instruments

Insolvency practice instruments and secondary materials as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne