Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Marco (No 11)

The case of Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Marco (No 11) involved the court-appointed Receivers seeking a determination of their remuneration for services rendered and an interim payment pending the final determination by a Registrar. The dispute centred on the appropriate percentage for the interim payment and whether it should be subject to certain safeguards. Additionally, the court had to decide on the refusal of a supplementary interim payment.

The legal issues before the court were the reasonableness of the Receivers' remuneration, the appropriate percentage for interim payments, and the necessity of safeguards for such payments. The court needed to consider these issues in light of relevant statutory provisions and prior court decisions.

The court reasoned that while the Receivers' applications were not made under Chapter 5 of the Corporations Act 2001, the court must consider whether the remuneration is reasonable, taking into account factors specified in the Act. The court found that the Receivers' claims for remuneration were reasonable, as evidenced by the detailed reports and declarations provided. The court also noted that ASIC and other parties had no opposition to the amounts claimed. However, given that approximately 81% of the total now claimed had already been approved for interim payments, the court deemed it unnecessary to make provision for any supplementary interim payment. Instead, the court approved further interim payments of 85% of the claimed remuneration for the specified periods, subject to certain conditions and safeguards.

The final orders included provisions for the Registrar to review and fix the remuneration for specific periods, with detailed mechanisms for providing and reviewing further information. Additionally, the court approved interim payments of 85% of the claimed remuneration for the periods from 4 September 2021 to 3 December 2021 and 4 December 2021 to 4 March 2022, subject to conditions such as potential refunds if the final determination was less than the interim payment.