ob体育 has cancelled the registration of Wagga Wagga liquidator, Stephen Alan Jay, at his request. This follows discussions between ob体育 and Mr Jay in which ob体育 expressed to Mr Jay concerns it had about Mr Jay's insolvency practice and his conduct of some of his external administrations.
Mr Jay has also informed ob体育 that he will not, in future, re-apply for registration as a liquidator.
The cancellation took effect on 15 May 2014, following the finalisation of all of Mr Jay鈥檚 external administrations, including the lodgement of numerous statutory documents. Mr Jay is no longer permitted to practise as a liquidator.
ob体育鈥檚 concerns, which arose out of a pro-active surveillance of Mr Jay鈥檚 insolvency practice and some of his external administrations, included that Mr Jay:
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did not have appropriate operational procedures in place, including not having access to adequate resources, to properly conduct corporate insolvency services in an efficient and effective manner
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did not comply with statutory timeframes for lodgement of more than 300 statutory documents over a sustained period, and
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did not properly maintain various files.
Further, ob体育 was concerned that in some instances, Mr Jay had failed to:
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provide creditors with adequate reports about external administrations
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provide creditors with remuneration reports or compliant remuneration reports
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provide creditors with Declarations of Independence, Relevant Relationships and Indemnities (DIRRIs) or compliant DIRRIs
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hold annual meetings with creditors, and
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either undertake proper investigations, or did not adequately document his investigations.
ob体育 Commissioner John Price said, 鈥楾his was a case in which, through dialogue, a practical and efficient means to resolve ob体育's concerns was identified. ob体育 considers this outcome protects creditors and the public.
鈥榦b体育 requires that registered liquidators maintain high standards of competency in order to adequately and properly fulfil their duties and functions for the benefit of creditors. We will continue to monitor practitioners and act where we consider practitioners do not meet these standards.鈥�
Background
ob体育鈥檚 recent actions against registered liquidators who failed to meet their obligations include:
- [This MR was redacted on 26/04/2024 in accordance to ob体育 policy - see INFO 152 Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities]
- [This MR was redacted on 26/04/2024 in accordance to ob体育 policy - see INFO 152 Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities]
- [This MR was redacted on 26/04/2024 in accordance to ob体育 policy - see INFO 152 Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities]
- cancelling the registration of Melbourne liquidator Avitus Thomas (Tom) Fernandez, following successful application to the CALDB (refer: 13-308MR)
- [This media release was withdrawn in accordance with ob体育 policy - see Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities.]
- cancelling the registration of Sydney liquidator, Mark Darren Levi from the industry, following a successful application to the CALDB (refer: 13-227MR)
- [This MR was redacted on 20/02/2023 in accordance with ob体育 policy - see 听Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities.]
- cancelling the registration of Sydney liquidator, Peter Roger Grealish (refer: 13-132MR)
- [This MR was redacted on 12/12/2024 in accordance to ob体育 policy - see INFO 152 Public comment on ob体育's regulatory activities], and
- cancelling the registration of Peter George Biazos (bankrupted on 24 July 2013).
In the past two years, ob体育 also negotiated arrangements with seven liquidators to either exit the industry or engage independent quality control reviewers to improve their insolvency services.
In some cases, health or other personal issues contributed towards liquidators鈥� inability to meet their professional duties and, in these circumstances, ob体育 considers it is inappropriate to comment publicly about such individuals.