08-04-2008

Adam Lysle

Adam Lysle, from Insolvency & Turnaround Professionals, gave a presentation on current legislation concerning insolvency, as well as ways that companies and individuals could protect themselves. Some of his presentation is reproduced below.

• Phillip Ruddock presented a lot of improvements to legislation which I’ll be talking about tonight, including the Corporations Amendment (Insolvency) Act of 2007.
• The Bankruptcy Amendments Act’s date of effect was the 31st of December 2007. The old rule was that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) got the first pick in cases of bankruptcy. That has changed.
• Another change is that companies now don’t have to go into administration first; they can go straight into liquidation.
• Creditors can now remove an administrator.
• Relationships must be declared for transparency and independence.
• The laws on corporate misconduct toughens the requirements for directors.
• If you are misled by the board of a company at the time of your investment in the company, your claim on the company is now elevated.
• If a company employs you and pays your superannuation contributions, and – fearing the worst – puts extra money into the super fund before going under, the super fund money can be taken for the payment of creditors.
• With the anti-avoidance provisions, if your wife is a co-owner of the house, doesn’t work, and the husband pays for capital works or improvements, a claim can be made against the wife or other asset transferee. Say if you sell your house to a friend for a dollar, the house and the dollar can both be seized.
• If the ATO is pursuing someone, they can tell that person or company’s debtor not to pay them, but to give the money direct to the ATO..
• If you have a tax problem, you need to get advice early.
• You can’t offload entitlements for employees.
• Some statistics.
  • Companies going into external administration are up 10%.
  • NSW has 52% of bankruptcy cases.
  • 32,000 people annually go bankrupt.
  • 2,000 companies in the Bankstown area will close their doors in the coming year.
• Adam’s company – Insolvency & Turnaround Professionals – provides formal appointments for corporate and personal situations, and consultations for strategic outcomes.
• The contact details for his company are:
  • PO Box 6147, Hammondville NSW 2170
  • Phone 1800-816-691
  • Web sites: http://www.insolvencyprofessionals.com.au and http://www.turnaroundprofessionals.com.au.
• I was the person who handed Christopher Skase back his passport. Because of irregularities in the way his body was handled after death, I think Skase is still alive somewhere.
• I worked for Compass Airlines when they ran into difficulties. In the first week we had $120,000 in fees. By contrast, when Ansett went under, $1.2M in fees were racked up in the first week.
• Another job I undertook was the windup of Enron Australia when the parent American company went under. Actually the parent would have gone under 3 months sooner, but they were sucking money out of Australia.
• One job I was very proud of was the Tyre King. We were able to preserve the jobs and benefits of the employees.
• When I spoke with Alan Bond in 1994, he said that at least he had faced the music, but that Skase hadn’t.
• John Symonds, of Aussie Home Loans, went bankrupt twice.
• The earlier you put your hand up for support, the better the chance of survival.
• My whole vision is to do myself out of insolvency business and just do turn-arounds. But I don’t expect to achieve that.
• 35% of all small businesses fail in the first 18 months. So if you can last the first 18 months, you’re doing well, and if you can last the second 18 months, things are looking good.
• I’m on the NSW Gambling Board, and do a lot of work in pubs and clubs. Gambling affects everybody. If you ring a builder, and he’s in the local club, drop him straight away, because your money is going to the club.
• Three questions you need to ask yourself:
  • Are you in financial trouble?
  • Does your business need a health check?
  • Do you want to learn more about protecting your business and assets?
• If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you need to talk to me.
• You are insolvent if you cannot pay 1 bill. If you continue to operate in that environment, you have put your house at risk.
• If you have an agreement with a company that requires your personal guarantee in order to do business, and you have demonstrated over the period of a year that you pay your bills, then review that personal guarantee and ask that it be torn up.
• You need to review all of your legal documents every year.

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Last changed: 03:21:35 04-10-2008