The Corporations Amendment (Corporate Insolvency Reforms) Act 2020 (Cth) (the Act) commenced on 1 January 2021, following the conclusion of temporary insolvency law relief measures which protected financially distressed businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of the Act included the amendment of the Corporations Act to:

• establish a debt restructuring process for eligible small companies and provide temporary relief for eligible companies seeking to enter the process;
• expand the situations where documents relating to the external administration of a company may be given electronically and allow documents relating to the external administration of a company to be signed electronically; and
• establish a simplified liquidation process for the purpose of winding up the affairs and distributing the property of an eligible company in a creditors' voluntary winding up, as well as the requirements for entering and exiting the process.

On a related issue, ARITA issued the Code of Professional Practice 4th edition (ARITA Code), effective 1 January 2020. The ARITA Code sets the standards for Members in the provision of quality and ethical Insolvency and Advisory Services. The Code is made up of the Introduction, the Code of Ethics, Code of Professional Practice: Insolvency Services (COPP: Insolvency Services) and Code of Professional Practice: Advisory Services (COPP: Advisory Services). Practice Statements are available which provide detailed explanations to support the Code but do not form part of it. The author has included reference to the Code’s relevant provisions throughout the commentary.

The new commentary addressing the Act is complemented by the inclusion of precedents appropriate for the new regime.

Bankruptcy and Insolvency is a particularly dynamic area of the law and comprehensively covered by our suite of precedents and forms, newsletters, journals and practitioner texts. Our flagship publication, Australian Bankruptcy Law and Practice meets all the information needs of the bankruptcy specialist. The Personal Property Securities in Australia service covers commentary on the PPSA regime, with analysis of parallels from international case law. In the corporate area, we have Company Receivers & Administrators which addresses the legislative framework and the myriad of judicial decisions in the area of company receivership, encompassing both private and court appointments. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law Noticeboard is geared to deliver news items of interest and significance written and curated by in-house editors. To subscribe to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law Practice Area on new Westlaw, contact Thomson Reuters.