The effect of State tribunals on commercial finance contracts NCAT, QCAT, VCAT and equivalents in other States are acronyms for the respective State-based Civil & Administrative Tribunals. Their basic purpose is to enable individuals and small businesses to pursue resolution of lesser legal disputes away from the formalities and costs of the law courts. The… Read More
Financiers worried about the breadth of the linked credit provider provisions (in section 278) of the Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”) (formerly section 73 of the Trade Practices Act (“TPA”)) can take some comfort from the recent decision of the Full Federal Court of Australia in Quikfund (Australia) Pty Ltd v Prosperity Group International Pty Limited… Read More
Business borrowers have once again been reminded (if they needed reminding) that, should they go into default under their banking facilities they are entirely at the bank’s mercy. The lender has virtually a free hand in deciding whether it sells the secured property first, or takes the more likely course of suing on a personal… Read More
More pressure on financiers – the demise of the ‘Insolvency’ event of default From July 2018, amendments to the Corporations Act commence which significantly limit the ability of financiers to rely on the occurrence of a traditional ‘insolvency event’ to terminate a credit contract. The new laws are informally known as the ipso facto clause… Read More
Tribunal says net rental clause unfair In equipment lease agreements, the unconditional payment (net rental) obligation is the cornerstone of the contract from the financier’s point of view. Come ‘hell or high water’, the hirer is obligated to pay its instalments on time and in full. It must never miss a beat. In Abraham v… Read More