Ref: 2021-1775

 

Dear Nick,

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 11^th March 2021 requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

 

Would you please provide me with information (for the past 7 years where
relevant) regarding:

 

(1) How the Official Assignee exercises his discretion to begin,
discontinue or defend legal proceedings in relation to property of
bankrupts. Is there a standing policy document or template which must be
referred to in every instance? If so, could you please provide a copy?

(2) How many legal proceedings the Assignee has: (a) begun, (b)
discontinued, and (c) defended in relation property of bankrupts.

Could you, if possible without too much difficulty, also provide me with
the following information: (a) what type of proceedings fall into each of
the above categories, i.e. standard proceeding, appeal, liquidation
proceeding; and (b) what causes of action fall into each of the above
categories, i.e. breach of contract/debt, Family Protection Act,
negligence, etc.

(3) A breakdown of the funding in respect of proceedings which the
Assignee has begun, continued or defended in relation to property of
bankrupts: i.e. how much litigation has been funded by assets of bankrupts
available to the Assignee at the time of their adjudication vs how much
has been funded by guarantees/advances to the Assignee by creditors of
bankrupts in order to pursue litigation.

Could you, if possible without too much difficulty, also provide me with a
high level summary of how much funds each of the following types of
creditors have guaranteed/advanced to the Assignee in order to pursue
litigation in relation to property of bankrupts: (a) Inland Revenue, (b)
banks and (c) insolvency practitioners.

(4) Any standing arrangement and/or policy understanding between the
Assignee and the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in respect of funding
provided by the Commissioner to the Assignee in order to pursue litigation
in relation to property of bankrupts.

(5) How the Assignee exercises his discretion to assign causes of
action/proceedings to other persons. Again: is there a standing policy
document or template which the Assignee or his agents must refer to? If
so, could you please provide a copy.

(5) How frequently the Assignee has assigned causes of action belonging to
bankrupts to (a) the bankrupt following their discharge from bankruptcy,
(b) persons associated with the bankrupt, (c) creditors of the bankrupt,
or (d) any other persons.

(6) The level of returns derived by the Assignee from his assignment of
causes of action: (a) how much has been "paid up front" in exchange for
assignments, (b) how much has the Official Assignee recovered from
successful litigation pursued by the assignee in which the Official
Assignee was promised a percentage of the proceeds, (c) in how many
instances has an assignment of a cause of action/proceeding resulted in no
recovery to the Assignee?

(7) How assignments to other persons by the Assignee are funded: does the
Official Assignee's in house counsel draft such agreements, is the
assignee liable for the cost of drafting and executing any such deed, does
the Official Assignee incur third party legal expenses to draft and advise
on such transactions?

 

Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course.

 

Please note, due to ongoing COVID-19 response work, requests are currently
being triaged and those relating to Covid-19 processed as a priority.
Remaining requests are being assessed as per the Ombudsman’s guidance
(which can be found here:
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/chief-ombudsmans-statement-official-information-response-times-during-covid-19-emergency)
and processed accordingly.

 

If you have any enquiries regarding your request, or its urgency, feel
free to contact us via email at [2][MBIE request email].

 

Nâku noa, nâ

MINISTERIAL SERVICES

 

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

NZBN 9429000106078

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/...
2. mailto:[MBIE request email]
3. http://www.govt.nz/

Good day Mr Coyle,

Would it be possible for me to call you sometime on Friday (26 April) early afternoon or the following Monday (29 April) to discuss your information request?

If so, please could I have your phone number? Alternatively, you can call me on the numbers below.

I look forward to your reply.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Ravin Sena
SENIOR SOLICITOR
Insolvency and Trustee Service
Ministry of Business, Innovation &  Employment
[email address] | Telephone: +64 (0) 9 916 4583 | Freephone: 0508 467 658
NZBN 9429000106078
This message may be subject to legal professional privilege

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Dear Nick

 

Please find attached a response to your request below and two additional
attachments.

 

 

Donna Jennings

Senior Ministerial Services Advisor

 

Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

[1]http://mbieintranet/assets/MBIE-visual-i...

 

 

 

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