Creditors’ rights in voluntary administrations
Creditors’ rights in voluntary administrations Creditors play a crucial role in voluntary administration. In contrast to the more restrictive provisions for liquidations, both unsecured and secured creditors are invited to participate in this process.[1] This article outlines some of the main rights of creditors in relation to voluntary administration as set out in the Companies […]
When and what employees of a liquidated company get paid?
As economic pressures continue to impact businesses across New Zealand, employees should be aware of their rights and entitlements in the event that their employer is placed into liquidation. What happens when a company goes into liquidation? When a company is placed into liquidation, it generally means the Company is unable to pay its debts […]
Budget 2026: Shareholder loans, a Kiwi love story
They go by various names: ‘overdrawn shareholder current account’, ‘shareholder loan’, but it’s the same thing, you borrowed some money from your own company, and now the government wants you to pay it back, or pay the taxes. For many, the first word of the crackdown came with Nicola Willis’ Budget on 28 May. But […]
Liquidation Trends: Australia vs New Zealand
Despite the significant difference in economic scale, the data indicates that businesses in Australia and New Zealand have responded in a notably similar manner to the challenges of the post-pandemic period.
Personal liabilities of Liquidators, Receivers and Administrators
Insolvency practitioners, like professionals in accounting, law, and finance, must carefully manage their own personal liability when accepting formal appointments. In New Zealand, there are three main forms of insolvency appointments such as liquidation, receivership, and voluntary administration. Each of them carries different levels of personal exposure for the appointed practitioner. Importantly, insolvency practitioners are […]
What is a running account’s relevance to voidable transactions?
One of the common defences raised to a claim made by a liquidator that a transaction is voidable is that the transaction forms part of a continuing business relationship, also known as a running account. The running account defence is provided for in section 292(4B) of the Companies Act 1993: (4B) Where then The Court […]
Crown fines in liquidation still unresolved in 2026
Company liquidations remain elevated in 2026, with the IRD continuing a firm enforcement approach. Practitioners regularly encounter files with provable tax debts alongside penal liabilities such as court-imposed fines and reparation orders, which sit outside the normal insolvency distribution framework. When these penal elements surface, a structural tension is exposed that Parliament has long recognised […]
A Three-year forecast for NZ insolvency
A common question regarding the current state of the economy and insolvency is: “How much longer do we have left of this?” Over the past three years, insolvency activity has risen significantly, reflecting the challenging economic and trading conditions many businesses face. Unsurprisingly, many are now wondering when some of that pressure might finally begin to […]
Extraterritorial limitations to section 9 of the Law Reform Act 1936 and how the Contracts of Insurance Act 2024 addresses this
Section 9 of the Law Reform Act 1936 (the Act) provides a statutory charge over insurance proceeds, allowing claimants to recover insurance moneys directly from insurers when the insured faces a liability.
IRD’s credit reporting of business debt is ready to scale
From where I sit in the insolvency industry, I get a front-row view of how IRD’s enforcement decisions ripple through the business community. And right now, everything I’m seeing points in one direction: Inland Revenue is about to dramatically scale up its use of credit reporting against companies with serious tax debt. The evidence, from […]
