News

Courts and Criminal Matters Bill

Summary

This Regulatory Impact Statement examines proposals to establish Credit Reporting and Super Priority as enforcement measures for overdue fines and reparation (collectively referred to as penalties)1. Given the large (and growing) amount of outstanding penalties, the effectiveness of monetary penalties as a sanction for offending is being eroded. The threat of Credit Reporting will provide people who can afford to pay their overdue penalties with a stronger incentive to voluntarily resolve them. Credit Reporting will also improve the liquidity of the credit providing industry by enabling better informed decisions to be made before advancing credit to people with substantial overdue penalties. Collectively, Credit Reporting and Super Priority could reduce the ability of people with unaffordable levels of overdue penalties to take on further unaffordable financial commitments, particularly for property that could be seized by the court. (When heavily financed property is seized, people are usually not up to date with their payments.)

To read a full copy of this bill please follow this link to Treasury's website Courts and Criminal Matters Bill – Regulatory Impact Statement 

Insolvency Practitioners Bill 

The Insolvency Practitioners bill was recently introduced to Parliament. This bill if passed into law, would give The Registrar of Companies greater powers over individuals who manage companies which are insolvent or are facing insolvency problems.

The purpose of this bill is to give the Registrar of Companies the authority to place under supervision or even prohibit some individuals from operating a Company if they are not operating to a certain standard.

If passed, the new law should come into force in July 2011. The Registrar of Companies has the power to take into account conduct that has occurred before the law comes into force.

The Insolvency Practitioners Bill is good news for creditors requiring individuals that manage companies to operate up to a high standard, and downstream less bad debt, and higher recovery for creditors.