Webinar originally aired February 2014.
Join Encompass and special guest Steven Gladman, partner at Hall Chadwick as we discuss the challenges facing the insolvency industry and practical tips you can use to leverage technology to gain an edge.
3. Our Guest Speaker
Steve has been a member of Hall Chadwick
for over 15 years.
As a specialist in corporate insolvency Steve
is a highly regarded practitioner due to his:
• Strong understanding of legal
requirements and processes
• Experience in solving the financial
problems of many businesses in a wide
range of industries
• Ability to see the big picture to give
valuable, considered advice
Steven Gladman
Partner, Hall Chadwick
4. Our Recent Whitepaper
Reshaping
Insolvency
Released in December 2013 this
white paper is based on our
assessment of the current
challenges impacting the insolvency
industry and aims to provide some
pertinent solutions to overcome
these challenges.
www.encompasscorporation.com/reshaping
5. This Webinar
• A brief industry snapshot
• New developments in
2014
• Industry challenges
• How to overcome these
challenges?
• Is technology the answer?
6. Industry Snapshot 2013
Number of corporate insolvencies:
• December 2013 2552
• December 2012 2618
• Fall of 2.5%
Business size:
• SMB with less than $100,000 assets
and less than 20 staff
Number of registered liquidators:
• 681
7. Industry Snapshot
ASIC Insolvency Statistics by Industry Type
September - December 2013
Other (business &
personal) services
623, 11%
211, 4%
118, 2%
134, 3%
124, 2%
179, 3%
1714, 31%
Construction
Accommodation & food
services
Retail trade
261, 5%
260, 5%
Manufacturing
428, 8%
458, 8%
990, 18%
Transport, postal &
warehousing
8. New Developments in 2014
• The Insolvency Law Reform Bill
Introduced in December 2012 effectively
implements reforms previously proposed in the
2011 for “modernisation and harmonisation of
the regulatory framework applying to
insolvency practitioners in Australia.”
• 1 January 2014
New processes stipulated by ARITA now
require insolvency practitioners to submit a
formal engagement letter to the directors of the
company.
9. Insolvency Challenges
The industry seems to attract some criticism:
• Perception of client’s being overcharged
• Media and government scrutiny
The above have a significant impact on the
reputation of an insolvency practitioner as well
as the entire firm.
10. Insolvency Challenges
What critics do not take into account:
• Complexity and unpredictable nature
of the job
• High exposure to personal risk and
liability
• No guarantee of fee generation from
insolvency jobs
• Delivering high quality of work consistently
All of the above have a significant impact
on the reputation of an insolvency
practitioner as well as the entire firm.
11. Overcoming the challenges
• Seeing the full picture to
identify risks and opportunities
at a glance
• Multi-dimensional view of
commercial information
• Timely communications
• Compliance and due diligence
• Speaking in a language that is
easy to understand for
stakeholders at all levels
12. Is technology the answer?
• Fast and accurate curation of
information for further analysis where
required
• ‘All encompassing’ document that
consolidates various reports and
allows drilling down
• Easy collaboration and workspace
sharing with a simple ‘copy/paste/
email’ action
• Storage of documents for fast and
easy accesses and reference
throughout the job
13. Visualisation Can Help
“With Encompass I was able to
accurately understand the entire
context of the situation. By
seeing the full picture, I
uncovered critical links that I
may have otherwise missed”
Mario Christodoulou - Researcher
ABC Four Corners
Editor's Notes
Thank you for sparing your precious time, especially your lunch hour, to be here today.
I wanted to mention before we get started that Steve provided some valuable input into our recently released white paper titled ‘Reshaping Insolvency’ . Please feel free to download that today from the link provided on the screen. In this webinar we will focus on our industry research to identify some of the challenges currently faced by the insolvency practitioners and some of the solutions that may help overcome these challenges.
We will start by looking at a brief snapshot of the insolvency industry and then Steve, I will ask you, from your experience if you feel this is an accurate snapshot. We will also look at some of the new developments that may impact the day to day lives of insolvency practitionersWe will then identify some industry challenges faced by the industry that we have identified though our primary research and by speaking to practicing insolvency professionals .and proceed to discussing possible solutions especially how technology can assist overcome these challenges.
While the number of corporate insolvencies seem to have declined from December 2012 to December 2013 as can be seen in the latest ASIC figures, the consistent theme is that SMB’s seem to be the most vulnerable to insolvency. These are businesses that typically have less than $100k in assets and less than 20 staff. Is this your view as well and why would you say that is the case Steve? Why SMB’s?
Do you agree with this picture? In your view is this an accurate description of the industry snapshot?
I think that our attendees are already aware of the Insolvency Law Reform Bill, however Steve could you please shed some more light on the new legislation in force from 1 January this year that has resulted in increased compliance and I guess more paperwork for insolvency practitioners.So when we look at the challenges ….. Move to the next slide…
Providing the ‘formal engagement letter’ would then address both of these top two challenges.
Would you agree that those are the biggest challenges? How does a situation affect you personally? What about the human element. Surely insolvency practitioners also get impacted emotionally, after all they are humans. Can it be emotionally taxing to see that some people may have to walk away without the possibility of getting paid. What can you do in such an event to help people? Enter poll question here (lets see what our audience has to say)
1 – first point helpful not only in maximising the shareholder returns but also mitigating personal liability. This would also help identify other opportunities where revenue generation is possible if other avenues can be identified in a job where there is no guarantees of a payment2 – this is important when all stakeholders are unsure of what the outcome is going to be and ‘Chinese whispers’ are starting to spread across the entity in question.3 – compliance is a big issue and critical to an insolvency practitioners role
You are currently using Encompass to get a big picture of the situation you are dealing with and to conduct relational searches. What benefits are you able to gain from the use of this technology?