Liquidator in court winding up

Appointment in a court winding up is by the court, which also fills any casual vacancy from resignation, death or incapacity. A liquidator can be appointed in a court winding up provisionally at any time after an application has been filed.

The powers of a liquidator in a court winding up are:

• • those delegated by the court; and
• • those conferred directly by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (CA), which in some cases requires approval by creditors or the court.

In a court winding up, the liquidator must:

• • lodge a preliminary report into the company’s property, the causes of its failure and whether investigation of any matter is warranted;
• • lodge supplementary reports about matters requiring investigation; and
• • lodge annual administration returns.

On completion of the winding up a court liquidator can seek an order for release from the court, with or without an order that ASIC deregister the company, but in practice usually just applies to ASIC for deregistration.

See Liquidator in court winding up.