Halifax Investment Services Pty Ltd
Halifax Investment Services Pty Ltd (Halifax), was a financial services licensee headquartered in Sydney with a partially-owned subsidiary in Auckland, New Zealand.
ob体育 will update this webpage when important steps take place in relation to this matter.
Background
On 23聽November 2018, Morgan Kelly, Stewart McCallum and Phil Quinlan of Ferrier Hodgson (the Administrators) were appointed as joint and several voluntary administrators of Halifax.
On 20 March 2019, at the second creditors meeting, it was resolved to place Halifax into liquidation and the Administrators were appointed as Liquidators.
From 30 November 2020 until 9 December 2020, the Federal Court of Australia and the Hight Court of New Zealand held a joint hearing in relation to the distribution of client moneys held by Halifax. Their Honours had reserved judgment in the matter.
On 19聽May 2021, the Federal Court of Australia and the Hight Court of New Zealand handed down their judgements regarding the valuation of investments and the return of shares and client moneys to investors.
On 13 May 2019, Stewart McCallum retired as Liquidator. On 17 June 2019 Ferrier Hodgson merged with KPMG. On 13 December 2022, Morgan Kelly retired as Liquidator and Peter Gothard was appointed.
ob体育's role
ob体育 has been following the administration process closely and has met regularly with the Administrators since their appointment to receive updates on the progress of the Administrators鈥� investigation and their findings.
On 8聽January 2019 ob体育 suspended the Halifax licence until 10聽January 2020 (See 19-005MR).
On 18聽December 2019 ob体育 extended the licence suspension until 8聽January 2021 (See 20-003MR).
On 8聽January 2021 ob体育 cancelled the Halifax licence (see 21-004MR).
On 14 December 2021, ob体育 varied the notice of cancellation for the Halifax AFS licence, to extend the date until which the Halifax AFS licence continues in effect on a limited basis, for a further 12 months (from 7 January 2022 to 7 January 2023).
On 2 December 2022, ob体育 varied the notice of cancellation again to extend this date for a further 12 months (from 7 January 2023 to 7 January 2024).
In both cases, this extension was done to ensure that the notice of cancellation does not adversely affect past or current clients of Halifax, particularly those clients that have entered into arrangements with Halifax and that can only be terminated by Halifax providing a financial service.
ob体育 continues to receive regular updates from the Liquidators during the liquidation process.
ob体育 will consider further the circumstances surrounding the voluntary administration and liquidation of Halifax, as well as the allegations of misconduct raised by the Administrators (including in their report to creditors under s439A of the Corporations Act), particularly those concerning compliance with laws on conduct and client money.
Under the law, including the Corporations Act, licensees must keep client money separate from their own. This is an important safeguard to protect the interests of retail investors.
ob体育 takes matters concerning the protection of client money particularly seriously. ob体育 notes that breaches of the client money provisions attract criminal penalties.
Help for investors
Investors seeking information should contact:
Link Market Services
Phone: 1300 910 051 or +61 1300 910 051 (if overseas)
Email: [email protected]
The Liquidators also provide information on in relation to Halifax including links to relevant documents.
For information to assist you if your investment has been adversely affected, please visit on ob体育鈥檚 Moneysmart website.
Taxation enquiries
For any tax-related questions or concerns, please contact the Australian Taxation Office on 131 020.
Trouble with debt
The page on our Moneysmart website also has information to assist you if you are experiencing problems with debt and cash flow.
What is voluntary administration and liquidation?
Voluntary administration is where the directors of a financially troubled company or a secured creditor with a charge over most of the company鈥檚 assets appoint an external administrator called a 鈥榲oluntary administrator鈥�.
The role of the voluntary administrator is to investigate the company鈥檚 business, property, affairs and financial circumstances, to report to creditors and to recommend to creditors whether the company should enter into a deed of company arrangement, go into liquidation or be returned to the directors.
Another responsibility of the voluntary administrator is to report to ob体育 on possible offences by people involved with the company. If breaches are reported, ob体育 will assess the reports to consider its own investigations and action, if any.
Liquidation is where:
- the creditors of a company vote for liquidation following a voluntary administration;
- an insolvent company鈥檚 shareholders resolve to liquidate the company and appoint a liquidator; or
- the court appoints a liquidator to wind up a company following an application, usually by a creditor.
It is possible for a company in liquidation to also be in receivership.
The purpose of liquidation of an insolvent company is to have an independent and suitably qualified person (the liquidator) take control of the company so that its affairs can be wound up in an orderly and fair way for the benefit of all creditors.
If a liquidator suspects that people involved with the company may have committed offences and the liquidator reports this to ob体育, the liquidator may also be able to apply to ob体育 for funding to carry out further investigations into the allegations.
More information on voluntary administration and liquidation