Equity crowdfunding allows small‐to‐medium enterprises to raise funds from investors (usually contributing small amounts of money) through an internet platform operated by a third-party intermediary. A key advantage of the process is that it provides access to equity for companies that would...

Phoenix activity occurs where the business of a failed company is transferred to a second (typically newly incorporated) company and the second company's controllers are the same as the first company's controllers. Phoenix activity can cause significant harm to creditors and others. In combating...

Consumers in Australia and other developed countries are increasingly required to interact with providers of complex financial products and services, and to estimate, mitigate or absorb the risks that flow from their financial decisions. A range of debt-related problems in Australia have been...

An important issue is whether s 191 of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – which requires directors to disclose material personal interests – includes conflicting duties. In other words, where a director faces a conflict between duties to different entities or persons (rather than a...

While the majority of those who declare bankruptcy do so voluntarily, a significant proportion are forced into bankruptcy as a result of legal action. This paper interrogates data obtained from the Australian Financial Security Authority to explore the attributes of debtors who go bankrupt...

Legal protections are in place to allow Australians in financial hardship to avoid negative credit ratings and bankruptcy by negotiating alternative payment arrangements with creditors. This article draws upon focus groups with consumer advocates to investigate whether these protections are...

This article presents the results of the first empirical study focused on older Australians in bankruptcy. Our study — based on the examination of a large and unique dataset obtained by the authors from the bankruptcy regulator — provides a valuable insight into the severe financial...

This article outlines the findings of Australia's first large-scale study on the experiences of people who have recently been unable to pay a debt when it fell due. The study builds upon empirical research on the causes and impacts of financial hardship in the United Kingdom and the United...

From 1983 until the abolition of the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) in 2018, there existed an independent body to provide advice to the Australian government on matters of corporate law reform. The abolition of CAMAC was controversial. The purpose of this paper is to provide...

Social impact bonds are a recent innovation but the number of issued bonds is increasing as investors, governments, providers of social services that can be funded by the proceeds of these bonds and others focus on the advantages of this type of investment. In this article the authors: (a)...