Oakland Property Holdings Pty Ltd ACN 090 604 872 v J P Morgan Trust Australia Ltd ACN 050 052 as custodian of Trafalgar Opportunity Fund No 4 ARSN 107 416 348

Oakland Property Holdings Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought to set aside a statutory demand issued by J P Morgan Trust Australia Ltd (the respondent), as custodian of Trafalgar Opportunity Fund No 4. The applicant argued that the statutory demand should be set aside because it was issued in the respondent's former name, despite the applicant being aware of the respondent's current name. The matter came before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the use of the respondent's former name in the statutory demand, when the applicant was aware of the respondent's current name, constituted "some other reason" for setting aside the demand under section 459G(1)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This required the court to consider the purpose of statutory demands and the potential for prejudice to the debtor.

Giles JA held that the applicant had not demonstrated that it had been prejudiced by the use of the respondent's former name. His Honour noted that the applicant was aware of the respondent's current name and that the purpose of section 459G was to prevent injustice. The mere fact that the demand was issued in a former name, when that fact did not cause any actual prejudice or misunderstanding, was not sufficient to justify setting aside the demand. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's notice of motion and ordered the applicant to pay the respondent's costs of certain prior applications. Time for compliance with the demand was extended.