Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd v. Commonwealth of Australia & Ors

Lower Court Judgment

28/02/2018 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal)
(Ferguson CJ, Whelan, Kyrou, McLeish & Dodds-Streeton JJA)

[2018] VSCA 41

Catchwords

Corporations – Trustee corporations – Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 433(2) – Where creditors resolved to wind up corporate trustee – Where receivers sought directions – Where primary judge held receivers justified in proceeding on basis receivership surplus properly characterised as trust property and s 433 did not apply to surplus – Where Court of Appeal allowed appeal – Whether Court of Appeal erred in concluding “property of the company” in s 433(2) included not only trustee’s right of indemnity but also underlying trust assets to which trustee company could have recourse – Whether Court of Appeal erred in concluding corporate trustee’s right of indemnity from trust assets was “property comprised in or subject to a circulating security interest” for purposes of s 433(2).

Short particulars