Date:

02/28/2000

After the commencement of Rule 5.5 of the Corporations Law Rules of this Court on 3 March 2000, the following arrangements will apply to the appointment of a liquidator:

List of eligible registered official liquidators
(a) the Registrar will continue to maintain the Court’s list (by firm as regards metropolitan Sydney, and by individual as regards country centres), comprising registered official liquidators who have consented in writing to the Court to accept all appointments as liquidator which the Court may make;

Appointment of plaintiff’s nominee
(b) the plaintiff in winding-up proceedings may nominate for appointment a registered official liquidator whose name appears in the Court’s list;

(c) nomination is effected by filing with the originating process a consent in Form 8 of the Corporations Law Rules, signed by the nominee, certifying that he or she is not aware of any conflict of interest or duty and serving it in accordance with rule 5.5(3)(b);

(d) the Court will appoint the plaintiff’s nominee in the normal case but is not obliged to do so;

(e) an obvious ground for the Court declining to appoint the plaintiff’s nominee is that the Court considers there is an actual or potential conflict between the duties of a liquidator and the nominee’s personal interest or some other duty (for example, a person who has acted as receiver and manager of the company for a secured creditor will almost never be appointed liquidator);


Appointment from Court’s list

(f) unless the consent in proper form of a registered official liquidator whose name appears in the Court’s list is filed with the originating process for winding up, the Registry will select a liquidator by rotation from the Court’s list;

(g) the plaintiff must obtain the consent in proper form of the liquidator selected by the Court, and file and serve that consent in accordance with Rule 5.5(3);

(h) if the liquidator declines to consent to the appointment (which the liquidator may do, after having given his or her consent to accept all court appointments, only on grounds such as conflict of interest), the plaintiff must:
(i) nominate a registered official liquidator, whose name appears on the Court’s list, by filing the liquidator’s consent; or

(ii) approach the Registry for selection of another liquidator by rotation, and then file that liquidator’s consent,
in accordance with Rule 5.5(3)(a) and serve the consent in accordance with Rule 5.5(3)(b).


28 February 2000
Chief Justice