Previous Events

Keith McLaughlin has built a career in finance. During his 30 years’ as managing director of Baycorp Holdings Ltd, Keith oversaw significant expansion of the business throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s – including the successful expansion into Australia in 1998. 

After building Baycorp and spending some well-deserved time overseas, Keith returned to begin Centrix – New Zealand’s credit bureau. Since 2009, he has built a team to provide credit information to consumers and businesses alike to better inform credit decisions.

Keith will present the very latest New Zealand credit insights from Centrix and answer the question ‘are we seeing the start of a financial recovery?’. He will also offer his top tips to help businesses to reduce risk and manage their cashflow.

We are pleased to welcome Paul Murray who will be speaking about the different types of legal entities and what you need to know before entering into business with them.

Many business can fall into the trap of not understanding who they are dealing with until the worst happens and find that their legal position is not as it would seem.

 About our presenter:

Paul has experience across a broad range of commercial disputes built up over the past 20 years.  He has a particular focus on insolvency, security enforcement, debt recovery and receivership matters, as well as construction, infrastructure, property-related disputes. Paul has worked with lenders, insolvency practitioners and secured creditors to enforce obligations against the various different types of legal entities.

We are pleased to welcome Iain McLennan and Keaton Pronk, insolvency practitioners from McDonald Vague Limited, who will be presenting on “By the Numbers and Emerging Trends in Insolvency Practice From an LIP Perspective”

Insolvency statistics and commentary, and an LIP’s observations on the changing nature of some creditors working with insolvency practitioners.  The power of the security interest.

About Keith McLaughlin

A highly experienced Senior Executive and Director, Keith started Centrix with a vision to offer New Zealand businesses a superior and cost-efficient credit offering.

Previously the Founder and Managing Director of Baycorp Holdings Limited, Keith has a wealth of finance experience and holds a number of awards, including Deloitte / Management Magazine NZ Executive of the Year.

About Centrix

As New Zealand’s national credit bureau, Centrix knows New Zealand better than anyone, with the most comprehensive consumer account payment data and credit information on 95% of Kiwis, or 4 million consumers.

Centrix also has a Commercial Bureau, with data on most credit-active businesses, to help Kiwi businesses manage risk and protect their cashflow.

We are pleased to welcome back Nick Tuffley, Senior Economist, from ASB.

• The details of this presentation will be available shortly, but go ahead and book now. Nick is always an inspiring speaker and numbers are limited.

Nick Tuffley was appointed as ASB’s Chief Economist in January 2007, having previously worked at Westpac and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.  Nick studied at Canterbury University, graduating with a Master of Commerce in Economics.

He and the rest of the Economics team provide regular analysis of economic developments and the outlook through written publications and media comments.  Their key objective is to help the bank’s clients make better-informed business and personal finance decisions.  The Economics team has won 4 Consensus Economics Forecast Accuracy Awards for their NZ forecasts.

This month we are pleased to welcome Anthony Pullan, Official Assignee and Regional Manager, New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service speaking at our event.

Anthony Pullan will be presenting on the valuable insights from Insolvency and Trustee Service (ITS) recent stakeholder survey. This annual survey serves as a crucial means to understand our stakeholders’ journey through the Insolvency procedures.  He will be sharing some of ITS’ findings and actionable takeaways that will be explored over the coming year.

Anthony Pullan is an Official Assignee and Regional Manager for MBIE’s ITS. He is currently responsible for the North Island ITS offices located in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier and Wellington. Anthony has over 10 years’ experience with ITS which began as an Insolvency Officer in the Auckland office during the GFC before shifting to Hamilton where he is currently based.

Iain McLennan has over 30 years’ experience in business recovery and insolvency. The best days in his professional life are when distributions are being paid to creditors. He is a Licenced Insolvency Practitioner accredited by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a member of NZCFI (The New Zealand Credit and Finance Institute) and GRIP.

Iain has extensive experience in technical liquidations and receiverships for companies in a wide variety of industries including finance, e-commerce, software development, property development and construction, and manufacturing. He has successfully provided advice to numerous liquidators on recovery actions, particularly actions against directors involving fraud and reckless trading.

Iain has also conducted investigations and has provided expert evidence in cases of suspected corporate fraud and in matrimonial proceedings.

Potentially most importantly in the 2023 economic environment, he has significant experience providing “work out” and recovery advice as an alternative to the formality of receivership/liquidation.

Keaton Pronk is experienced with both personal and corporate insolvency and deals with both small to large sized businesses. He has experience in a number of industries including hospitality management, retail, entertainment, fashion and construction.

Prior to joining McDonald Vague Keaton worked for the MBIE Insolvency and Trustee Service as a Principal Insolvency Officer and held a Deputy Assignee warrant.

Keaton is a Chartered Accountant, Licenced Insolvency Practitioner, a member of RITANZ and INSOL International.

• So the whole world has moved on from 2022 and as we get underway in 2023, questions arise about how we are doing as a country and where to from here

• Join Keith McLaughlin, Managing Director of Centrix, to deep dive into recent insights about the New Zealand economy and understand the impact of inflation, rising interest rates and the CCCFA changes.

  Hear first-hand valuable credit data insights and key metrics explained, using Centrix’s analysis of payment data on over 4 million Kiwi consumers and many New Zealand businesses.

  Find out how consumer and business confidence has been impacted by rising inflation and CCCFA changes and how it’s impacting different sectors of New Zealand’s economy.

• With approximately 25% of the liquidations to date this year being in the construction sector, and supply issues and cost escalations common, it is timely to hear an update on the industry.

  Susan Bevin (Principal) and Sam Cowan (Senior Associate) from Cavell Leitch both specialise in construction disputes.

  They presented on payment claims, retentions and enforcement/dispute resolution options available when needed.

• A session where PwC Director Tom Lawson shared a short presentation on the state of the domestic economy and where credit pressures are starting to emerge. Tom also overlayed what PwC Treasury is observing in how New Zealand corporates are managing risks in this environment.

Recalibrating your Workforce in tough times: A discussion of restructuring in the employment law context, including the business justification for restructuring, employer obligations, the restructuring process, implementation and challenges to redundancy; and

Insolvency and directors’ duties: A discussion of directors’ duties in the context of challenging trading conditions and the process for commencing liquidation proceedings.

• Credit limits
• Assumed knowledge of insolvency
• Preferential Payments/Insolvent Transactions
• PPSR Registrations and pitfalls
• NZ Insolvency Update and predictions for the year ahead.

Credit staff need all the resources and tools they can get to stay ahead of the changes in this present business environment. We learnt from our guest presenters as they take you through the various topics and give vital information on how to stay ahead of the ‘pack’.

• In today’s world, the ability to be more resilient and overcome setbacks is key to survival and progress.

  Developing mental endurance is the positive angle of managing stress and resilience. During this virtual workshop, you will learn some key skills to be more able to cope in today’s pandemic world, overcome setbacks more effectively and have some tools to help as we live with uncertainty. Come away with some stress management tips and be more equipped with coping strategies that will be applicable to work and everyday life situations.

• We are pleased to welcome Keaton Pronk and Marisa Brugeyroux, insolvency practitioners from McDonald Vague Limited, who will be presenting a webinar on signs that a business is struggling, look at the different turnaround and insolvency processes businesses in trouble, and discuss how those insolvency processes affect creditors.  The session will also cover recent updates in the insolvency area and what they’re seeing in the market.

• Laurie is a Credit Consultant. He has been working with clients in the credit industry for over 38 years. His expertise involves providing Credit Management training workshops and seminars throughout New Zealand.

• This month we are pleased to welcome Jenny Horgan, Principal Advisor, New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service speaking at our Auckland luncheon.

  Jenny will be giving a brief introduction to the Insolvency Service, and then an update including current statistics and the impact of Covid-19.

• The Disputes Tribunal faces increasing challenges in its brief, with increasing calls to continue to expand it’s jurisdiction to decrease the time and cost of civil litigation in higher courts.  Within its existing parameters, there is also much that can be done to improve access to justice, and with that in mind, she revisited the policy of better defining “debts” in the DT as a priority in the first weeks of being in the role.  In the credit world, change is also afoot with amendments to the CCCFA in the pipeline.

• Stuart and Dan will be giving a presentation on the topic of “Small Business Outlook” using data showing the impact of Covid-19 and where Centrix sees this sector trending in the future.

• This month we are pleased to welcome Katrina Shanks from Financial Advice New Zealand who will be speaking at our Wellington luncheon on how to maintain a good credit rating and the role of Financial Advice New Zealand.

  Katrina has spent much of her career in financial services. A Chartered Accountant by trade, Katrina started her career in Audit, spent time at Newton Fund Management in London and then joined Westpac Trust. She has owned her own small accountancy business for seven years, after which she was the Financial Controller for the National Party.

• Senior Associate Sophie Carter leads Cavell’s Employment Team. Sophie advises and represents on all aspects of employment law and acts for employers, employees and HR professionals. Sophie can also advise clients on employment matters involving the Human Rights Act, the Privacy Act, and the Health and Safety at Work Act. Sophie’s extensive background includes advising and assisting with restructures, disciplinary processes, wage claims, raising and responding to personal grievances and reviewing and drafting employment agreements and policies. Sophie also regularly attends mediations and negotiates settlements and she also has experience in the Employment Relations Authority.

  Kendal Cosgrove is a Solicitor in Cavell Leitch’s Employment Team and she advises and represents on all aspects of employment law, including disciplinary and performance matters, restructures, personal grievances and the reviewing and drafting of employment agreements and workplace policies.

• With Inland Revenue being a creditor in all New Zealand businesses, the approach it has taken to debt recovery and collections since the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020 has been key to assisting many businesses to manage their cash flow in these unpredictable times. Phil Latimer, a Technical Specialist within IRD, will discuss changes Inland Revenue has been making to its approach to debt recovery as it comes to the end of its internal transformation programme, more recent changes to that approach which have had to be implemented as result of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns and what approach will be taken to meeting of tax obligations in the future. Please join us for a topical discussion which will have an impact on all New Zealand businesses.

• Giles will discuss the fundamentals of contracts with particular emphasis on the increased use of electronic signatures.

• In these uncertain times positive cash flow is proving difficult for many businesses.

  The Covid-19 lock down has had a severe and real impact on the liquidity of otherwise viable businesses.

  Craig Sanson and Marcus McMillan from PwC will be delivering a presentation that provides practical insights into two procedures available to businesses who find themselves with creditors that they are not currently in a position to meet.

(1) Exporting to Australia – essential differences between PPSA in Australia and New Zealand that you need to know about.

(2) New rules for identifying your customer (debtor) on the New Zealand PPSR.

(3) Common errors in registrations on the PPSR that may invalidate your security – are you getting it right?

Mary Crimp and Jerome Toomey, Partners at Harmans Lawyers, will  be speaking about commercial financial loan and security documentation with a focus on explaining the importance of the relevant documentation, identifying important and necessary clauses, discussing securities (both standard and those less common) and enforcement options/provisions.

Jerome Toomey has practised as a lawyer both here in New Zealand and in the UK.  In addition, he spent 5 years working in the finance industry where he was built a significant knowledge base about financial and other commercial transactions.

Mary Crimp specialises in civil and commercial litigation, insolvency and debt recovery and regularly acts for receivers and liquidators, large corporate and finance clients.  Prior to Harmans, Mary spent almost 3 years working in London, initially in the field of professional conduct complaints and subsequently with the Financial Services Authority as part of the team prosecuting complex insider dealing crimes.

Giles’ principal area of practice is dispute resolution in the above areas. Giles has experience in all forms of dispute resolution including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and Court litigation.

Giles serves on the Waikato Bay of Plenty District Law Society Standards Committee, serves on the Board of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls and is a member of the Statutes Revision Committee of the Anglican Waikato Diocese.

Beth Williams and Rachel Munro from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.  In this session, you’ll learn about the opportunities presented by the NZBN, and how NZBN enabled e-Invoicing will help businesses save time and money. We will discuss the system and process implications and look at what you can do to start using and promoting the NZBN.

Otherwise known as the Official Assignees Office, the Insolvency and Trustee Service are part of the Business, Innovation and Employment government department. They administer all Bankruptcies, No Asset Procedures (NAP), Summary Instalment Orders (SIO), and some Court-appointed liquidations.

Phil Morris was the Deputy Assignee at the Hamilton Insolvency and Trustee Service prior to joining Stace Hammond Solicitors in 2000 where he later became a partner in 2008. He has significant experience and expertise in the workings of the Insolvency and Trustee Service as well as more recently in private practice specalising in the insolvency and commercial law area.

Satish will talk about the factors shaping New Zealand’s economic environment and where they think the economy is heading over the next few years. That will include a look at interest rates, government policy and the housing market.

Satish joined Westpac’s Economics team as a Senior Economist in October 2014. His work focuses on inflation and developments in New Zealand’s labour market. Prior to joining Westpac, he was an adviser at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Much of his career has focused analysing and forecasting the New Zealand economy, with a particular focus on inflation.

Satish has also spent time as an economic researcher, leading the Reserve Bank’s analysis of the economic effects of the Canterbury earthquakes and its analysis of the global economy during the financial.

Grant Slevin is a barrister at Left Bank Chambers in Addington, Christchurch, specialising in civil litigation.

From 2010 until 2017 Grant was an investigating solicitor for the Official Assignee, also in Christchurch, and prior to that he was a member of the insurance law team at Wynn Williams & Co, where he gained a broad background in civil litigation matters of all kinds.

Grant has a Master of Laws, granted with honours, and is the co-author with Professor Lynne Taylor of “The Law of Insolvency in New Zealand”. He has also recently authored an online service offered to lawyers by Thomson & Reuters, known as the “Insolvency Workflow”. This is essentially a step by step guide to corporate insolvency law, whereas the text book deals also with bankruptcy and personal insolvency law generally.

Lara has over 20 years of business experience, working in the construction sector for 4 years prior to joining PwC, where she is currently an Executive Director specialising in restructuring. Following on from her time in the construction industry, Lara has maintained a strong interest in the property sector, where she has been involved in a number of high profile assignments, including lead roles in the Bridgecorp and Mainzeal receiverships and as a receiver of Ebert Construction. Lara also undertakes advisory assignments and assists with firm wide PwC proposals and engagements in the sector.

In respect of the retentions provisions of the Construction Contracts Act 2002 Lara has given a number of presentations and hosted discussion sessions with industry stakeholders on the practical implications of the new rules and was responsible for the preparation of detailed submissions made to MBIE on the legislation. In 2018, Court directions were sought as to the application of the provisions in respect of Ebert Construction and Lara is one of the Court appointed receivers of the associated retentions fund.

Lara’s work at PwC also includes all aspects of corporate restructuring work, including independent appraisals, restructuring advice, performance improvement, monitoring, receiverships, voluntary administrations, and liquidations. Her experience extends over a wide selection of industries in addition to property, including retail, education, transport, horticulture, technology and aviation. She is a Chartered Accountant and a CAANZ Accredited Insolvency Practitioner (NZ).

Originally an IBM Systems Programmer on Mainframes in the 1980’s, moved into Software Architecture and Emerging Technologies in the 1990’s and worked on a number of large software projects for The University of Auckland, Vodafone, Vero, Air New Zealand, IAG among others.

When Apple produced the iPhone in 2007, he quit his full-time job and wrote apps for a year before writing enterprise apps for Genesis Energy, IAG Insurance, Vero Insurance, Air New Zealand, Vodafone, and eventually ANZ.

Chloe is a Senior Associate in Anthony Harper’s Banking Finance and Insolvency Team, specialising in recovery and insolvency.

Chloe has a particular interest in guarantees, and will lead a discussion about whether guarantees are important in a debt collection context, common issues that arise and how to avoid them.

Giles Brant and Emma Falconer of Stace Hammond will present to you a complete understanding of the Personal Properties Security Act (PPSA) in a clear and easy to understand manner which demystifies this unique piece of legislation for companies.

Giles is a litigation lawyer and joined Stace Hammond in 1991 and has been a partner since 1998. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1990 and has expertise in all facets of commercial, insurance, banking, finance and property law, as well as court and arbitration practices and procedures, mediation, trusts and estate, employment law and resource management. Giles’ principal area of practice is dispute resolution in the above areas. He has experience in all forms of dispute resolution including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and Court litigation. He serves on the Waikato Bay of Plenty District Law Society Standards Committee, he is on the Board of Waikato Diocesan School for Girls and is a member of the Statutes Revision Committee of the Anglican Waikato Diocese.

Emma is a commercial lawyer and joined Stace Hammond in 2002 and has been a partner since 2010. She was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1999. Her expertise is in commercial advice including structuring, governance, succession planning, and all operational legal matters. She also has expertise in banking and finance including structuring of loan and security packages and debt recovery as well as the Personal Property Securities Act including protection and recovery of assets. She is a trustee of Charitable Trust Retirement Villa.

Despite the PPSA having been with us since 1999, there is still uncertainty about the rights that secured creditors have when a customer becomes insolvent.  Much depends on the contents of the signed terms of trade or security agreement, and whether the security interest is registered on the PPSR (and when).

Ben Russell of Lane Neave is a dispute resolution specialist with broad experience in commercial litigation and insolvency law.  He regularly advises clients on a range of commercial issues including insolvency, contract, property, trust, insurance and shareholder disputes.

Artificial Intelligence has become one of the biggest technology disrupters in recent years. Leading to the creation of the digital workforce, it is estimated by 2025, 140 million jobs worldwide will be replaced by automation. The world of robotic process automation still remains a mystery to many organisations. This presentation will explore automation tools and specially discuss the applicability of this technology within the finance industry.

Automation and its current trends will be explored where we will examine the various features and common platforms available to organisations of all sizes. We then dig deeper to understand why back office processes, in particular finance and performance processes are so popular for process automation. We will then provide an overview of the implementation and automation processes for organisations.

Laurie has an extensive background in Credit Management throughout New Zealand

Since 1987 Laurie has established himself as one of New Zealand’s leading seminar presenters and authority on credit, sales and customer service training. Laurie has previously owned and operated his own Debt Collection Company and has a vast knowledge of the collection industry.

Laurie is a Fellow of the New Zealand Credit & Finance Institute and has also held numerous positions as an executive of chairperson on a number of credit management industry advisory groups.

Dennis Parsons has a reputation as a hard man with a “moral view” of the world. Being interviewed by him apparently makes root canal work at the dentist seem pleasant by comparison.

By all accounts, a few wayward company directors have also wanted to turn up their toes after the man known in fraud-busting circles as “The Rottweiler”, has exposed their misdeeds, mismanagement or mischief.
Dennis, is an Aucklander by birth and probably better known there than in the Waikato where he makes his home and bases his business, Indepth Forensic.

A Willis Towers Watson study recently asked executives globally (including many from New Zealand) to rank the greatest threats to their business over the next 10 years.

Willis Towers Watson is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. With roots dating to 1828, and 1965 in New Zealand, Willis Towers Watson has 40,000 employees serving more than 140 countries. We design and deliver solutions that manage risk, optimize benefits, cultivate talent, and expand the power of capital to protect and strengthen institutions and individuals. Our unique perspective allows us to see the critical intersections between talent, assets and ideas – the dynamic formula that drives business performance. Together, we unlock potential.

James Atkinson is a Technical Specialist with Inland Revenue.   He has been involved in the debt and credit industry for 30 years and is consulting with other public services regarding the collection of government debt, with particular emphasis on tax debt.   He will be discussing the careful balancing act performed by those collecting tax debts. He will look at the history and framework within which tax debt collectors operate and how and why collecting tax debt is so different from the usual commercial debt collection activities.

CreditWorks Data Solutions have advanced Credit Management systems which provide many great features to help credit professionals do their job – from opening accounts to managing and monitoring accounts – without all the manual involvement previously required. This can result in considerable cost reductions.

Laurie is a Fellow of the New Zealand Credit & Finance Institute and has held numerous positions as an executive or chairperson on a number of credit management industry groups. Cancellations received within 3 working days of the training course will result in no refund, however, you may choose someone to attend in your place.

• What duties are company directors subject to;
• What are the potential consequences of breaching those duties if a company subsequently goes into a formal insolvency proceeding;
• What a phoenix company is; and
• What options are available to insolvency practitioners in the event a phoenix company is set up.

Laurie Brenssell has an extensive background in Credit Management throughout New Zealand. Since 1987 Laurie has established himself as one of the New Zealand’s leading seminar presenters and authority on credit, sales and customer service training.  Laurie is a Fellow of the New Zealand Credit & Finance Institute and has held numerous positions as an executive or chairperson on a number of credit management industry groups.