What is the purpose of a Public Examination?
Usually liquidators and the ASIC will hold public examinations to gather information on the circumstances leading up to the failure of a company.
One purpose of a public examination is to gather information and to establish if any other litigation can be commenced for the benefit of creditors. For example the liquidator will most likely try to understand if the company directors continued to trade the company whilst it was insolvent. If this can be established the liquidator may then commence proceedings against the company directors for insolvent trading.
Liquidators or the ASIC may also ask questions to establish if the company directors committed any offences under the Corporations Act. If the ASIC obtain the necessary evidence from this process, they may then ban the company directors from acting as directors of other companies.
