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ARTICLE · 12 NOVEMBER 2020

Curbing illegal phoenix activity

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This law, mostly additions to various pieces of existing law, makes a new effort to stamp out illegal phoenix activity.

AustraliaInsolvency/Bankruptcy/Re-Structuring
James Robba
James Robba
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INTRODUCING THE TREASURY LAWS AMENDMENT (COMBATING ILLEGAL PHOENIXING) BILL 2019

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the discussion about illegal phoenix activity only started in the last five or six years. But back when we first heard Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire yell "Show Me the Money", the then Australian Securities Commission published a report in 1996 named: 'Phoenix Companies & Insolvent Trading'.

Momentum gathered in 2009 when the Australian Treasury produced the report 'Action against fraudulent phoenix activity', and again in 2012 when PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) issued 'Phoenix Activity: sizing the problem and matching solutions'.

However, this issue didn't really start hitting the radar until the Phoenix Taskforce was created in 2014. Headed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and now encompassing 38 federal, state and territory government agencies, the taskforce employed data matching tools and new information sharing practices to

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