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punitive element and any contributions made by directors should only compensate creditors for the loss they suffered. To include a punitive element into the amount of the award, the judge reasoned, would not be consistent with the established principle of limited liability, and could not have been the intention of Parliament. 142 Moreover, the criminal liability which aims to punish the wrongdoer has been provided for in section 458 of the Companies Act (now in section 993 of the Companies Act 2006). It should be noted that the contrast in the decisions of Re Cyona Distributors Ltd 143 and Morphitis v Bernasconi and others 144 was due to the difference in the provisions used. The former was based on section 332 of the Companies Act 1948 which has both criminal and civil elements, while the latter was decided under section 213 which only provides for civil liability. In Re Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA (in liquidation) (No 15), Morris v Bank of India, 145 the bank was held liable to contribute to losses of creditors which would have been avoided but for the transaction. From the decision, it seems the court borrowed the ‗but for‘ test from torts of negligence to ascertain the amount of contribution. In other words, it must be shown that damages suffered are a result of directors engaging in fraudulent trading although the award would merely be a reasonable approximation. 146 The same approach is adopted by the court in relation to remedies of wrongful trading. It seems appropriate for wrongful trading not to include a punitive element into the judgment because the court does not have the power to do so for fraudulent trading which requires intention to defraud. The decision of Knox J in Re Produce 142 Morphitis v Bernasconi and others[2003] Ch 552 at 579. 143 [1967] Ch 889. 144 [2003] Ch 552. 145 [2004] 2 BCLC 279 at 355. 146 Re Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA (in liquidation) (No 15), Morris v Bank of India[2004] 2 BCLC 279 at 355. 342
Marketing Consortium (No 2) 147 clearly stated that the jurisdiction under section 214 is primarily compensatory rather than penal. Hence, the appropriate contribution from a director would be the amount of the company‘s assets depleted as a result of a director‘s wrongful trading. 148 The relevant time the court must consider in order to calculate the net deficiencies of the company assets would be from the date wrongful trading occurred until the company is wound up. Therefore, it is essential for companies to prepare and maintain proper accounts since financial statements will be the court‘s primary sources in determining the loss suffered by creditors. In Re Purpoint Ltd, 149 the court faced difficulty in ascertaining the net deficiencies of the company assets because of the company did not keep proper accounts, and concluded that the director‘s liability would be the aggregation of both trading and crown debts calculated from the time the company should cease trading until being wound up. 150 The approach adopted by the Malaysian courts in relation to fraudulent trading is similar to the current position in the UK; that the award should comprise only the amount of loss suffered by the creditors, and should not include a punitive element. In this respect, the court did not follow cases which were decided under section 332 of the Companies Act 1948 which allowed both compensatory and punitive elements in the contribution order, although section 304(1) contains both criminal and civil liability. Although section 304(1) originates from section 332 of the Companies Act 1948, the courts in Malaysia did not adopt the principle in UK cases which are decided under similar sections, such as Re Cyona Distributors Ltd. 151 The courts 147 (1989) BCLC 520 at 553. 148 Re Produce Marketing Consortium (No 2) (1989) BCLC 520 at 553. 149 (1991) BCLC 491at 498. 150 See also Re Brian D Pierson [2001] BCLC 275 at 310-311, the relevant time is stated as between the time when company should have gone into liquidation and the when it actually did. 151 [1967] Ch 889. 343
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http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.n
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ABSTRACT This study examines the le
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACNOWL
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CHAPTER 5 THEORY OF THE CORPORATION
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7.3.3.3 Distribute its Capital to M
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10.2.5.1 Meaning of Insolvency 10.2
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10.6.2.2 Carrying on of any Busines
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CHAPTER 12 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEND
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CLC Australian Company Law Cases CL
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Stanford LR Stanford Law Review Ste
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Facia Footwear Ltd (in administrati
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Re Avon Chambers Ltd [1978] 2 NZLR
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Re Produce Marketing Consortium Ltd
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Ultraframe (UK) v Fielding & Ors [2
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Mountford v Tasman Pacific Airlines
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Australia 3M Australia Pty Ltd v Ke
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Linton v Telnet Pty Ltd (1999) 30 A
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Malaysia Abdul Aziz bin Atan v Lada
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Perman Sdn Bhd & Ors v European Com
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Other Jurisdictions Singapore Rahj
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Companies Act 2006 Section 60(3)(c)
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Section 993 Section 993(2) Section
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Insolvency Act 1985 37, 70 Insolven
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Section 251 255 Part II Schedule 6
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Section 52(1) Section 52(2) Section
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Section 272(2) Section 272(2)(a) Se
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Section 385(4)(b) Section 385(4)(b)
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AUSTRALIA Absent Debtors Act (NSW)
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Section 206D(1)(b)(b)(ii) 374 secti
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Section 588FE(2)(a) Section 588FE(2
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section 588H (5) 241 Section 588H(6
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Section 598(3)(b) Section 598(3)(c)
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Bankruptcy Act 1967 MALAYSIA Sectio
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Section 130A(6) 391 Section 131 221
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Companies Regulation 1966 Regulatio
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CHAPTER 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE THES
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A discussion of directors’ duties
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The far-reaching implication of cor
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2.2.1 The United Kingdom The common
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2.2.3 Australia Australia has been
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CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE SURVEY - AN OV
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shareholders, had failed to mitigat
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was mainly responsible for the chal
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3.3 Interests in the Company-Shareh
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contributed by the shareholders and
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Statutes have attempted to address
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how the matter should be dealt with
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4.2 Development of Corporate and In
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colonies. 14 The emergence of compa
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originally incorporated in order to
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usiness fraud. 42 In 1825, the Bubb
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Companies Act also reveals providin
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Companies Ordinance 1953 of Sabah a
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In 1977, the Cork Committee was app
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the Committee foresaw difficulty du
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operation and termination of a comp
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enforceability of security interest
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procedure, and dispensed with the o
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The creditors‟ protection princip
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shareholders and on personal bankru
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directors as trustees. 162 Members
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4.3.3 Development of Insolvency Leg
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In Australia, the government respon
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appointment of an administrative re
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the current statutes were not effic
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insist on protection to directors i
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and judgment to run the company. 21
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due to the difficulty in obtaining
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The Australian Law Commission in 19
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instead, enacted section 135 253 in
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4.5 Conclusion Malaysia, New Zealan
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CHAPTER 5: THE THEORY OF THE CORPOR
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needs someone to run it on its beha
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The implication of the decision is
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English decisions as guidance and t
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Shareholders who have to incur high
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interests of shareholders by maximi
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situation, directors have a duty to
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concluded purchasing goods from thi
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stipulates directors “may conside
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subsidiary and may continue to pros
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A holding company may use a subsidi
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section 187 of the Australian Corpo
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its holding company), act in a mann
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is just and equitable, to make an o
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Syndicates (NZ) Limited (in liq) 13
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a) Extent to which the Related Comp
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That the management did not differe
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equirement of insolvency and it doe
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The House of Lords in Woolfson v St
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subsidiary. Abdul Malik J held that
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defendant company. During a meeting
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Uniphoenix Corporation Bhd v Raymon
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justice alone is not sufficient; th
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lenders, employees, suppliers and c
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company and as the residual claiman
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The claim that shareholders‟ righ
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particularly lack of effective mana
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management of the companies. Credit
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players‟ interests intertwine wit
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important for directors to build lo
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Despite having included favourable
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at the intersection of a number of
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Directors must weigh any particular
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Directors will also enlist the serv
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Contractarians regard employees in
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terms to their liking, they either
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to boycott the company. 134 The com
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On the other hand, the duty owed to
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and experiences in order to dischar
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CHAPTER 7: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF
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Economists divided real capital whi
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the transformation of shares as rea
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the company‟s ability to pay its
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purchase or will not become insolve
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available where special resolution
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The idea that maintaining share cap
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must be satisfied by the company in
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7.4 Conclusion The doctrine of capi
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and once a resolution is passed, to
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The term 'insolvency' has also long
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equivalent to medical negligence ca
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meaning of inability to pay debts.
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It is important to distinguish as t
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long as the accounts give true and
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current assets must be taken stock
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cases the presumption of insolvency
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It is interesting to note in reachi
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CHAPTER 9 THE COMMON LAW DUTIES OF
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Voluntary creditors can be divided
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are not personally liable for any l
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confidence, a trustee who has been
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interests of various parties in the
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overriding duty is to the sharehold
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to look at the directors‟ purpose
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9.3.3 Duty not to Fetter Discretion
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The decisions of the Federal Court
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case, directors should disclose the
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misconception that the case law and
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other reference as to the developme
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Australia and Malaysia have express
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out “ ...the judgment is in the b
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the prospect of success as well as
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judge adopted the principle of iden
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individual trading through a compan
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liability can be imposed on them wh
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liquidators when it is insolvent. C
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CHAPTER 10 DIRECTORS’ DUTY TO PRE
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Malaysia did not make any changes o
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interpretation of these provisions.
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sum of money that is owed or due.
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Hence, action can be brought agains
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Directors in Australia can be held
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to the director to prove that he or
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expect that the company was solvent
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In the case of Secretary of State f
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trading at a deficit. 64 In other w
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maintained in section 213 of the In
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not „a party‟ if he knew that m
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econcile the two judgments with one
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carrying it on (whether because of
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10.3.1.3 For any other Fraudulent P
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company. In this aspect, section 21
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to Australia and New Zealand which
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even though it was evident from the
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the steps taken were with the aim o
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decisions. 150 Therefore, directors
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The Law Commission proposed that th
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to reform the law, namely to reduce
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A similar issue was raised in the E
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The decision was later upheld by th
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10.4.3 Duty in relation Obligation
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fraudulent purpose.” 201 Although
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from the carrying on of the busines
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The first civil version of the inso
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amounts. 223 In Hussein v Good, 224
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of law of contract. The court must
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defendant. 244 Therefore, a directo
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additional capital, as well as a re
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trading without any other action ta
Page 361 and 362: Another defect of the section is in
Page 363 and 364: argue that there are reasonable gro
Page 365 and 366: 10.6.2 Responsibility for Fraudulen
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Page 369 and 370: The courts have acknowledged that t
Page 371 and 372: The defendant in the case relying o
Page 373 and 374: To date, there have been few cases
Page 375 and 376: ability of the company to pay off i
Page 377 and 378: can be disqualified from taking par
Page 379 and 380: power to do so is an archaic equita
Page 381 and 382: is for a short period of time. This
Page 383 and 384: ights against the company are froze
Page 385 and 386: involves a situation where the comp
Page 387 and 388: 11.2.3 Winding-up Liquidation is a
Page 389 and 390: 11.2.3.1 Effects of Successful Avoi
Page 391 and 392: transactions, 59 the provisions cle
Page 393 and 394: 11.2.3.1.2 Recovery from Third Part
Page 395 and 396: ecover the proceeds of sale or to p
Page 397 and 398: order. 83 If the value of the asset
Page 399 and 400: Without this class action, the unse
Page 401 and 402: the power to apply for a compensati
Page 403 and 404: defraud, which implies their culpab
Page 405 and 406: also be enforced by the company. 11
Page 407 and 408: The court has the power if it think
Page 409 and 410: contravention or pecuniary penalty
Page 411: discretion to order the director‘
Page 415 and 416: discovered that the director had en
Page 417 and 418: compensatory. 163 Damages are asses
Page 419 and 420: of causation similar to torts in as
Page 421 and 422: ecause the court considered that it
Page 423 and 424: It should be noted that Re Cyona Di
Page 425 and 426: 11.3.7.2.3 Duration The court also
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Page 429 and 430: This is similar to the case of frau
Page 431 and 432: company is using funds belonging to
Page 433 and 434: Since section 304(1) originates fro
Page 435 and 436: 11.3.8.2 Problems of Enforcement/Pr
Page 437 and 438: However, extracting promise of inde
Page 439 and 440: In relation to an action against a
Page 441 and 442: Investments Commission is entitled
Page 443 and 444: The position in Australia has clear
Page 445 and 446: Disqualification on the grounds of
Page 447 and 448: As a result of the recommendations
Page 449 and 450: exercised by the Registrar or the O
Page 451 and 452: actions which are committed with a
Page 453 and 454: The court has to deduce evidence of
Page 455 and 456: 11.4.2.1 Standard of Proof Disquali
Page 457 and 458: 11.4.2.2 Court’s Order Section 6
Page 459 and 460: of disqualification. 322 However, t
Page 461 and 462: mitigating factors considered by th
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11.5 Other Remedies 11.5.1 Mareva I
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for under the Act. 348 The action p
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of trust or breach of duty in relat
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CHAPTER 12 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEND
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The separate legal personality conc
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deemed to be an alien concept to Br
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positive action to minimize losses
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insolvent. In Malaysia, there is no
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BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS and ARTICLES AHM
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BENNETT, Howard, 'Late Floating Cha
Page 483 and 484:
COBURN, Niall F, 'Insolvent Trading
Page 485 and 486:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=988944 at
Page 487 and 488:
FISHER, Gregory, LEE , Janet and JO
Page 489 and 490:
GUNASEKARA, Gehan and TOY, Alan, 'L
Page 491 and 492:
HOPT, Klaus J., 'Comparative Compan
Page 493 and 494:
KEAY, Andrew and Murray, Michael, '
Page 495 and 496:
McCHESNEY, Fred S., 'Economics, Law
Page 497 and 498:
OTTOLENGHI, S, 'From Peeping Behind
Page 499 and 500:
ROSS, Mike, Corporate Reconstructio
Page 501 and 502:
SCHWARTZ, Alan, ‗A Normative Theo
Page 503 and 504:
WALTERS, Adrian, 'Void Dispositions
Page 505 and 506:
WORTHINGTON, Sarah, 'Subrogation Cl
Page 507 and 508:
REPLIES TO EXAMINERS APPENDIX 1 Pag
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Page 220-it is asserted that direct
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What are the criteria for determini
Page 513 and 514:
addition it provides incentive for
Page 515 and 516:
See also Secretary of State for Tra
Page 517 and 518:
Most jurisdictions in Australia hav
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