3. Background
3.1 Origin of the Phoenix Company Review
In 1998, New Zealand Stevedoring Limited was placed in receivership. The businesses of the company and a number of its subsidiaries were transferred to associated companies.
As a consequence of the receivership, over 300 staff were made redundant. Outstanding claims in excess of $14 million (redundancy, long service and holiday pay) were not settled.
The Stevedoring case generated a large amount of public interest. In particular, concerns were heightened over the ability of directors and managers of a failed company to defeat creditors' legitimate interests in pursuit of their own interests. In response, the then government expressed concern at the circumstances surrounding the case and undertook to ensure the issue of phoenix companies would be dealt with in the current insolvency review.
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