Bank of Melbourne Ltd v HPM Pty Ltd (in liq)

The case of Bank of Melbourne Ltd v HPM Pty Ltd (in liq) involved the Bank of Melbourne as the plaintiff and HPM Pty Ltd, a company in liquidation, as the defendant. The dispute centered around the rights of the liquidator of HPM to assign certain causes of action to a third party, Harold Blakeley, and the validity of a proposed Deed of Assignment. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

The primary legal issue that the court had to address was whether the liquidator of HPM, acting in his capacity, had the authority to assign the company’s rights to pursue specific causes of action to Harold Blakeley, as proposed in the Deed of Assignment. Additionally, the court needed to determine whether the Deed of Assignment required any amendments or deletions to be validly executed.

In its judgment, the court found that the liquidator of HPM did indeed have the authority to assign the causes of action as per section 477(2)(c) of the Corporations Law. The court further ruled that while the Deed of Assignment was largely in order, paragraph 4(D) needed clarification or deletion to align with the liquidator's powers. Consequently, the court granted the liquidator the power to assign the rights and sign the Deed of Assignment, subject to the necessary amendments or deletions.

The final orders of the court allowed the liquidator to assign HPM's rights to Harold Blakeley and sign the Deed of Assignment with the condition that paragraph 4(D) be appropriately amended or deleted.