+      The Liquidators have settled 18 unfair preference claims against creditors.

+      The Receivers and Managers have settled their legal claims against the former auditors of Harris Scarfe.  The Receivers and Managers advised that there was no surplus arising from these settlements that would become available for return to unsecured creditors.

We also note that ASIC has completed its investigations and finalised all legal proceedings against the management of the Group.

The Liquidators are continuing to pursue the remaining 9 unfair preference claims against creditors.  It may be some time before these claims are resolved in the Courts.   There are still a number of issues that must be resolved before the Liquidators can conclusively determine whether a dividend will be able to be declared.

On 30 June 2003, the Liquidators issued a declaration to shareholders pursuant to section 104-145 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.  The declaration is available from this site.

Next Stage

In accordance with the Liquidator’s duties pursuant to the Corporations Act 2001, the Liquidators will continue to:

+      Report to ASIC on the conduct of the directors as appropriate;

+      Monitor the conduct of the Receiver and Manager of the Harris Scarfe Group;

+      Pursue recovery of the remaining unfair preference claims;

+      Pay the costs of the liquidations and certain priority claims, including employee entitlements (where applicable); and

+      Complete the liquidations and apply for deregistration of each of the companies in the Harris Scarfe Group.