PrefSure Life Limited and Tower Australia Limited

PrefSure Life Limited and Tower Australia Limited were before the court in a case concerning the approval of a scheme of arrangement under the Life Insurance Act 1995 (Cth). The applicants sought approval for a scheme to restructure and transfer certain life insurance policies from PrefSure Life to Tower Australia. A central issue was whether the applicants were required to provide an approved summary of the scheme to policy owners whose current addresses were not recorded with PrefSure.

The court considered whether the applicants were exempt from the requirement to provide an approved summary of the scheme to certain policy owners under subsection 191(5) of the Act. The applicants argued that the policy owners whose addresses were not recorded were not affected by the scheme and thus did not require notification. The court examined the legislative intent and the practical implications of such a requirement, concluding that the policy owners in question were not materially affected by the scheme and that compliance with the notification requirement would not serve a meaningful purpose. Therefore, the court found that the applicants could be dispensed with the need to comply with paragraph (2)(c) of section 191.

Having addressed the compliance issue, the court turned to confirming the scheme under section 194 of the Act. The court found that the scheme was fair and equitable to all relevant parties, and it met the statutory requirements. Consequently, the court confirmed the scheme as proposed. The applicants were also ordered to pay the costs of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, as agreed or taxed. Finally, the court ordered that the exhibits be returned to the applicants.