Restructuring & Turnaround
Liquidation
Orderly wind-down, asset realisation and investigation.
Restructuring & Turnaround
Decisive counsel for businesses facing financial and operational distress.
Overview
How we help.
Where restructuring is not viable, liquidation provides a controlled process to realise assets, investigate prior conduct and return proceeds to creditors. Liquidation is sometimes presented as a failure, but in many cases it is the correct and responsible outcome — delivering a better return to creditors than continued trading and providing certainty to directors, employees and stakeholders.
Corson Fiske acts as liquidator in creditors’ voluntary and court-ordered liquidations. Our practice combines technical rigour with commercial pragmatism: we focus on the issues that materially affect creditor outcomes and director risk, and we do not inflate engagements beyond what the matter requires.
We are particularly active in complex liquidations involving contested transactions, cross-border assets and director conduct questions — the situations where experienced judgement matters most.
Capabilities
- Creditors’ voluntary liquidation appointments
- Court-ordered liquidation
- Asset identification, realisation and distribution
- Voidable transaction investigations and recoveries
- Unfair preference and uncommercial transaction claims
- Director examinations and reporting
- Cross-border asset recovery
- Final distributions and deregistration
Client Situations
When clients engage us.
The issues that bring clients through our door tend to fall into familiar patterns.
A company needs to be wound up
Directors have concluded that the business cannot continue and want an orderly liquidation.
A creditor has served a statutory demand
Winding-up action has been commenced and the company needs to respond or prepare for liquidation.
A liquidator is needed for a specific matter
An appointment is needed to investigate particular transactions or director conduct.
A prior liquidation has stalled
An existing liquidation is not progressing and creditors want a change of appointment.
A bank has appointed an investigating accountant
A senior lender has commissioned an independent business review. The directors need parallel counsel to ensure their position is protected through the review and any subsequent process.
An earlier advisor has lost the confidence of the board
The company has been working with another advisor but the directors have lost confidence in either the advice or the approach. Second opinions are needed quickly.
Outcomes
What you can expect.
- An orderly wind-up that maximises returns to creditors
- Recovered voidable transaction proceeds where available
- Clear reporting on director conduct where relevant
- Final distributions and deregistration on a defined timeline
Process Guide
The Liquidation Process Explained
Liquidation is the formal process of winding up a company — realising its assets, investigating its affairs, and distributing any proceeds to creditors in accordance with the statutory priorities. It is the end of the company’s commercial existence, though the investigation and recovery work can continue for months or years afterward.
There are two main types: creditors’ voluntary liquidation (commenced by the members of the company, usually after resolution of directors that the company is insolvent) and court liquidation (ordered by the court, usually on the application of an unpaid creditor following a failed statutory demand). Each follows broadly similar procedures after appointment but the pre-appointment steps differ significantly.
The process, step by step
Step 01
Appointment
A liquidator is appointed — by members in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, or by court order on a creditor’s application. From that moment the liquidator controls the company and all its assets.
Step 02
Initial Investigation and Asset Realisation
The liquidator identifies and secures the company’s assets, reviews its books and records, and begins the realisation process. Physical assets are typically sold or transferred; bank accounts are taken over; property leases are disclaimed or assigned.
Step 03
Investigation of Prior Conduct
The liquidator investigates transactions in the period before liquidation — looking for voidable transactions (unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions, unfair loans, related party transactions), breaches of director duties, insolvent trading, and fraudulent conduct. Recovery actions may be commenced.
Step 04
Creditor Claims and Distribution
Creditors submit proofs of debt which the liquidator admits or rejects. Once sufficient funds are realised, distributions are made in order of priority: secured creditors (against their security), then priority unsecured creditors (employee entitlements up to prescribed limits), then unsecured creditors pro rata.
Step 05
Final Meeting and Deregistration
Once the liquidation is complete, the liquidator convenes a final meeting and files for the company’s deregistration with ASIC.
Director Risk
What directors need to understand.
Liquidation presents the highest level of director risk exposure of any insolvency process. Insolvent trading claims under s 588G can result in personal liability for debts incurred while the company was insolvent. Unfair preference claims may force directors and related parties to repay funds received in the six months before liquidation. Uncommercial transaction claims can unwind asset transfers. The liquidator has statutory power to examine directors under oath and compel document production. Breach of directors’ duties under ss 180-183 can result in civil penalty proceedings and personal liability. DPN exposure for unpaid tax debts remains and is not compromised by the liquidation.
How Corson Fiske Helps
Independent counsel for the director — not the company, not the creditors.
Corson Fiske advises directors before, during and after liquidation. Pre-liquidation, we assess whether liquidation is the right answer or whether alternative paths — safe harbour, VA, SBR, informal workout — would deliver better outcomes for the company and lower exposure for directors. During liquidation, we represent directors in examinations, respond to voidable transaction and insolvent trading claims, manage parallel DPN and personal guarantee exposure, and liaise with the liquidator from a position of preparation. Post-liquidation, we advise on residual personal exposure, bankruptcy risk, and recovery strategy. We are not the liquidator — we act for the directors whose interests the liquidator cannot, by statute, represent.
Client Success
Outcomes from recent engagements.
Indicative results from engagements within this practice area. Client details have been anonymised; outcomes reflect actual matters completed by the firm.
$42M
Debt Restructured
Consensual debt restructure
Negotiated a multi-lender standstill and amendment-and-extension for a manufacturing group facing covenant breach, preserving trading operations and avoiding voluntary administration.
Manufacturing group, NSW
18 days
From Brief to DOCA
Accelerated DOCA
Advised directors of a distressed professional services firm through a compressed 18-day process to a creditor-accepted Deed of Company Arrangement.
Professional services, VIC
92%
Creditor Support
Safe harbour to refinance
Supported directors through a six-month safe harbour engagement ending in a complete refinancing with 92% creditor support for the transition plan.
Retail group, QLD
Why Corson Fiske
Experience where it counts.
Clients engage Corson Fiske because they need advice they can act on — delivered by senior practitioners who understand both the technical detail and the commercial consequences. Every engagement is led by a partner with direct experience in corporate liquidations.
Our integrated structure means tax, legal, accounting and advisory questions are resolved within a single firm. For clients operating across Australia, Asia, New Zealand or Asia, our office network in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Singapore and Auckland provides consistent advice across jurisdictions.
Our Approach
A refined four-phase method for every engagement.
Corson Fiske applies the same disciplined framework to every matter, regardless of scale. The phases below are not a marketing device — they are the actual structure our partners use to move clients from uncertainty to resolution.
Phase One
01
Understand
A confidential partner-led briefing to establish the facts, commercial drivers, timing pressures and stakeholder dynamics.
- Confidential scoping conversation
- Document and data review
- Stakeholder mapping
- Initial risk identification
Phase Two
02
Analyse
Structured technical and commercial analysis of every realistic option, with a clear view of risks, costs and likely outcomes.
- Technical legal and tax analysis
- Commercial modelling
- Risk-weighted options assessment
- Precedent and market benchmarking
Phase Three
03
Recommend
A written partner recommendation in plain English — not a list of caveats. We stand behind our advice and explain our reasoning.
- Clear written recommendation
- Implementation sequencing
- Stakeholder communication plan
- Contingency and fallback positions
Phase Four
04
Execute
Hands-on delivery of the agreed plan with partner oversight, regular milestone reporting and clear handback at completion.
- Implementation leadership
- Stakeholder engagement
- Milestone tracking and reporting
- Completion review and handback
Key Considerations
What clients need to know.
Engaging external advisors on any significant matter raises practical questions about scope, timing, cost and outcomes. We believe in being straightforward about each of these from the first conversation.
How engagements typically begin
Every engagement starts with a confidential initial conversation — usually 30 to 60 minutes — in which we listen to the situation, ask the questions needed to understand it properly, and share a view on whether and how we can help. There is no charge for this conversation and no obligation to proceed.
How we scope and price work
We prefer fixed-fee or capped-fee arrangements wherever the scope allows. Where the scope is genuinely uncertain — as in contested matters — we agree hourly rates upfront and provide regular fee updates against defined phases. We do not bill for internal discussions, file opening or routine administration.
Who you will work with
Every engagement is led by a partner with direct experience in the matter type. That partner remains your primary point of contact throughout. Specialist colleagues join the team where their expertise is required, but you will never be passed from person to person or find the partner you hired is no longer on the file.
How we handle confidentiality and privilege
All engagements are subject to strict confidentiality. Where legal advice is being delivered, it is provided through our incorporated legal practice and attracts legal professional privilege. We take document security, information handling and communications discipline seriously on every matter.
Get the right advice from Corson Fiske.
Confidential, no-obligation initial consultations with a partner who specialises in corporate liquidations.