Director Duties: Duties, Liabilities and Enforcement

The risks are increasing for directors and the boardroom brings greater legal risk than ever before. Examine the new compliance landscape of directors' liabilities post-WillsNavigate these new realities and examine what the current corporate veil looks like today. Be guided by an experienced, expert panel through regulatory enforcement priorities for 2025, navigate through the personal liability for payment of taxes and insolvent trading duties. This is an essential half day given the current directors’ liabilities landscape.

Friday, 28 March 2025
Description

Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories

Chair:

Temple Saville, Barrister, Nationally Accredited Mediator, The Victorian Bar

9.00am to 9.50am How to Keep Directors Out of Hot Water: Regulatory Enforcement and Investigations

 

  • Regulatory enforcement priorities for 2025
  • Regulatory investigations: recent cases and learnings
  • Legal risk management  

Presented by Suzanne Howari, Senior Associate, Brown Wright Stein Lawyers: Risk & Governance Specialist, Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia 

9.50am to 10.40am Navigating the New Compliance Landscape: Legal Risks and Responsibilities Post-Wills v ACCC

 

  • What 'not to do' from a front end perspective
  • Take a granular look at the actual facts, and what Wills did that rendered him liable
  • Explore the reasoning of the Court, and how this might catch other Board room situations 

Presented by Rhys Williamson, Special Counsel, Mahoneys

10.40am to 10.55am Morning Tea
10.55am to 11.45am Directors in the Firing Line: The New Roadmap for Maintaining the Veil

 

  • Essential matters, factual evaluations, and normative judgments: When is ignorance bliss?
  • Victory for the ‘narrow' knowledge test: What does this mean for directors accused of being involved in unconscionable conduct, misleading or deceptive conduct, anti-competitive conduct, unlicensed credit activity, or continuous disclosure contraventions?
  • The special case of unconscionable systems: What does this mean for director liability?
  • What’s at stake?  

Presented by Peter Travis, Commercial Barrister and Mediator, Gibbs Chambers

11.45am to 12.30pm Duty to Prevent Insolvent Trading and Liabilities

 

  • Legal obligations under the Corporations Act
  • Duties owed to creditors
  • Defining insolvency and its indicators
  • Indicators that directors must assess
  • Civil and criminal liabilities for breaches of their duty to prevent insolvent trading
  • Possible defences  

Presented by Mark D Martin KC, Barrister-at -Law, Level 10 Inns of Court, Recommended Insolvency & Restructuring Senior Counsel, Doyle’s Guide 2024

12.30pm to 1.15pm Directors’ Liability and Exposures: A Perspective from a Restructuring Specialist

 

  • Personal liability of directors for unpaid company superannuation
  • Personal liability of directors for unpaid taxes
  • Breach of directors' duties
  • Potential risks tied to personal guarantees
  • Personal guarantees and their impact on family property under charging clauses
  • Personal guarantees extended for building companies
  • Director/shareholder loan accounts and their implications 

Presented by Dino Travaglini, Director, Travaglini Corporate Advisory

Presenters


Temple Saville, Barrister, Nationally Accredited Mediator, The Victorian Bar
Temple practices in commercial law, public law and regulatory matters. Temple is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and is on the List of External Mediators published by the Magistrates’ Court. She is available to be briefed as a mediator. Temple accepts briefs to advise and/or appear. Temple has an interest in insolvency and bankruptcy related matters and has completed the ARITA Advanced Certification in Insolvency. Temple advises and appears for clients in respect to personal insolvency and corporate insolvency. She has experience in dealing with winding up application, creditors petitions, voidable transactions, insolvent trading claims and directors’ duties generally. Temple also has experience in building disputes where she represents clients in relation to breach of contract and warranties, defects, delays, and variations. Temple also appears and advises in relation to all aspects of debt recovery, contractual disputes, Australian Consumer Law matters, civil claims and interlocutory applications.


Suzanne Howari, Senior Associate, Brown Wright Stein Lawyers
Suzanne Howari is a highly regarded corporate and commercial lawyer specialising in regulatory enforcement and investigations (including ASIC, ACCC and ASX investigations), legal risk management, governance, corporate and commercial law and competition and consumer law.Suzanne holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney with particular focus on corporate and commercial law, and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney. Suzanne is a recognised Risk and Governance Professional and a Fellow Member of the Governance Institute of Australia, and has been awarded the Certificate in Governance & Risk Management from the Governance Institute of Australia. In her practice, Suzanne leads highly complex regulatory investigations and develops risk management frameworks for her clients to reduce their exposure to legal risks and cultivate a culture of compliance. Noting her unique skills and extensive experience, Suzanne has been distinguished in the 2024 Women in Law Awards as a 'Thought Leader' for her work in regulatory investigations and legal risk management. As a trusted advisor to business leaders and their teams, Suzanne works closely with her clients and their professional advisors to formulate effective strategies and comprehensive solutions to achieve their objectives while managing their risks. Suzanne works closely with her clients and their professional advisors to formulate effective strategies and comprehensive solutions for each client’s unique needs. Suzanne is dedicated to assisting her clients achieve their short-term and long-term objectives by providing tailored service, managing risk and adopting a result-focussed approach.


Rhys Williamson, Special Counsel, Mahoneys
Rhys is a Special Counsel in our commercial team who specialises in commercial, corporate and intellectual property matters. Admitted as a solicitor in 2017, Rhys has experience assisting SMEs, large private businesses, research institutes, technology companies and start-ups with their commercial matters, including advising on negotiating and drafting buying, selling, distribution, manufacturing, consultancy and supply agreements, shareholder agreements; intellectual property licensing; software licensing; and privacy issues.


Mark D Martin KC, Barrister-at -Law, Level 10 Inns of Court
Martin KC practices in the following areas: commercial, property, insolvency, intellectual property and defamation. He was admitted as barrister in 1987 and Queen's Counsel in 2013. He is Honorary Counsel for the Queensland Reds and Wallabies. Mark is married with 4 children; boys aged 32, 31 and 27 and a girl aged 24. His interests include mountain bike riding and snow skiing.


Peter Travis, Commercial Barrister and Mediator, Gibbs Chambers
Peter Travis is a Queensland barrister, mediator and California attorney who specialises in commercial disputes. He represents clients before all Australian courts and has a national mediation practice specialising in resolving civil disputes across a broad range of practice areas. Before joining the Queensland Bar in 2008, Peter was employed in the media division of a national firm of solicitors, and became a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He later joined the California Bar and practised as a trial attorney in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Peter represented media clients in complex First Amendment, intellectual property and commercial litigation.


Dino Travaglini, Director, Travaglini Corporate Advisory
Dino is a director of Travaglini Corporate Advisory, a boutique chartered accounting and corporate advisory firm which specialises in advising distressed businesses and debt restructuring. The key services that his firm provides is: business restructuring and turnaround, debt and financial restructuring, bank and lender negotiation, regulated debt management advice, insolvency advice, independent expert reports and safe harbour advice. His career spans over 30 years, as a registered liquidator and trustee in bankruptcy acting in formal corporate and personal insolvency administrations and corporate restructure. Most of which was as a partner or principal with national chartered accounting and restructure firms, Moore Stephens, Grant Thornton and Cor Cordis. Relevant to today’s presentation, his work requires him to understand the businesses, and their financial position, including professional services practices.

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Director Duties: Duties, Liabilities and Enforcement

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Single Session
Friday, 28 March 2025
9.00am to 1.15pm Australia/Brisbane
CPD Points 4
$505.00
$353.50
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