Waterstone Insolvency

19/07/2026

The legacy of pandemic-era economics is finally catching up with the New Zealand commercial landscape. For anyone looking closely at the health of the business sector, the true story isn’t found in short-term market sentiment, but in the structural reality of the New Zealand Companies Register.

Between 2019 and 2021, commercial gravity was essentially suspended. Massive government stimulus packages, combined with a temporary pause on standard debt collection practices, kept hundreds of unviable businesses artificially afloat. During this period, company removals plummeted to decade-lows, creating an unprecedented “net-growth bubble” where nearly two companies were incorporated for every single one that closed.

Now, we are watching an aggressive, multi-year market self-correction.

Read the full article by Waterstone marketing lead, Benno Stander

The legacy of pandemic-era economics is finally catching up with the New Zealand commercial landscape. For anyone looking closely at the health of the

16/07/2026

It is now common practice for debt collection companies to purchase debts from parties who may lack the resources or capacity to pursue recovery themselves. In such circumstances, a notice of assignment becomes relevant.

Subpart 5 of the Property Law Act 2007 (the 2007 PLA) governs the assignment of choses in action. Under section 48 of the 2007 PLA, a “thing in action” includes: (a) a right to receive payment of a debt; and (b) part of a thing in action. It is important to note that Subpart 5 applies only to assignments of things in action made on or after 1 January 2008. Assignments made before that date continue to be governed by the Property Law Act 1952 (the 1952 Act).

Read the full article by Waterstone junior in-house counsel, Linda Ban

It is now common practice for debt collection companies to purchase debts from parties who may lack the resources or capacity to pursue recovery themselves.

15/07/2026

A company can look solvent on paper and still be insolvent in practice. The point is often missed. Directors, shareholders and advisers look first to the balance sheet. The company owns a plant. It has debtors. It has work in progress. It has a pipeline.

But in New Zealand insolvency law, the immediate question is not whether the company has value. It is whether the company can pay its debts as they fall due. The solvency test in section 4 of the Companies Act 1993 has two limbs: the company must be able to pay its debts as they become due in the normal course of business, and its assets must exceed its liabilities. A company that fails the first limb is in difficulty no matter how the second looks.

Read the full article by Waterstone Wellington manager, Bede Henderson

A company can look solvent on paper and still be insolvent in practice.

14/07/2026

June 2026: A Ten-Year High

The data for June 2026 indicates a continuing upward trajectory in corporate distress across New Zealand. Total formal insolvency appointments (which include liquidations, receiverships, and voluntary administrations) reached a decade high for the month of June.

There were 281 total insolvencies recorded in June 2026, marking a 12.4% increase compared to June 2025 (250 total insolvencies).

Breakdown of the June 2026 Figures
The vast majority of the volume continues to be driven by liquidations:

Liquidations: 259
Receiverships: 19
Voluntary Administrations: 3
Historical Comparison (The June Trend)
When looking at the month of June over the past decade, we can see the current environment is heavily elevated compared to both the pre-pandemic baseline and the artificially suppressed numbers seen during the COVID-19 stimulus years.

Here is how total June insolvencies have tracked over the last five years:

June 2022: 99 total appointments (The pandemic-era low point)
June 2023: 184 total appointments
June 2024: 226 total appointments
June 2025: 250 total appointments
June 2026: 281 total appointments

Key Takeaway
The volume of liquidations (259) in June 2026 is the highest single June figure in over ten years (surpassing the previous peak of 225 in June 2025 and 218 back in June 2016). This sustained year-on-year growth suggests that the legacy effects of high interest rates, margin compression, and subdued consumer spending are continuing to force unviable businesses into formal closure.

14/07/2026

The taxman cometh - July 2026 Newsletter

Hi there,

It turns out that an apple a day doesn't keep the taxman away. One of our largest fruit empires, Kiwi Crunch Hawke's Bay, has officially rolled into voluntary administration, while its subsidiary, Crasborn Fresh Harvest, found itself under the pruning shears of IRD who put them into liquidation over a casual $19 million tax tab. That is a lot of apples.

Over in the dairy sector, Synlait has managed to dodge corporate extinction by successfully hooking themselves up to financial life support by securing a $320 million bank refinancing package, topped off with a $130 million loan from their generous shareholder, Bright Dairy. They now have a two-year breathing room extension to figure out how to make milk great again.

If you’ve tried to eat out or grab a local craft beer lately, you might have noticed the landscape is looking a bit bare. High-profile chef Nic Watt has put his Commercial Bay spot, Cāntīng, into liquidation, coming hot on the heels of Auckland icon SPQR calling it quits. To make matters bleaker, a small army of independent craft breweries and boutique gin distilleries have also gone under.

If your business strategy involves "ignoring letters in blue envelopes," you might want to rethink it. The IRD has officially run out of patience, launching liquidation applications at nearly six times the rate seen just two years ago. While the construction sector still holds the highest volume of collapses, hospitality is sprinting to catch up with a massive 49% annual spike in closures.

If there is any comfort to take from this economic squeeze, it is that insolvency practitioners are finally getting a workout. One local liquidator recently joked that business is so busy, they might actually be able to afford a flat white and an avocado toast in central Auckland this weekend. Of course, he'll have to find a café that is still open first.

Stay solvent out there,

Benno Stander

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https://waterstone.co.nz

13/07/2026

We are proud to announce that Waterstone is a Premium Sponsor of the CGI NZ Annual Conference 2026: Steering New Zealand Forward – Thriving Amid Uncertainty.

As economic pressures tighten, the scrutiny on corporate governance has never been higher. With this in mind, we are highly anticipating a key session from our own Adam Botterill and Gregg Simms.

Adam and Gregg will be taking the stage to present on Director Liability: Creditor Direct Action & Compensation Trends. They will unpack the current legal pressures on boards, the evolving responsibilities of directors, and the rising trends in direct actions taken by creditors in a distressed economy.

If you are joining the governance community at The Northern Club on Friday, 24 July, make sure to catch their presentation and connect with the Waterstone team to discuss how these trends might impact your clients.

Event Details:
📅 Date: Friday, 24 July 2026
📍 Location: The Northern Club, Auckland
🔗 Details & Registration: https://cginz.org/cginz-education/Event?Action=View&Event_id=1044

17/06/2026

A full house on the Rooftop at QT for a striking reality check on politics.

We teamed up with Gravity Credit Management Limited yesterday morning to host another successful installment of our Breakfast Series. We were privileged to have Dr. Oliver Hartwich share his latest insights with our guests.

Moving past standard economic commentary, Dr. Hartwich took a deep dive into party politics. He challenged the room with a sobering perspective: electoral changes mean very little if the public service apparatus isn't structurally reformed. Without fixing how our public service operates from the inside out, true recovery remains out of reach.

As corporate restructuring specialists, we know that internal structures dictate external success. Dr. Hartwich’s analysis proved that this rule applies just as heavily to governments as it does to businesses.

Thank you to everyone who braved the cold morning to pack out the venue and keep the conversation hot! Check out the event highlights below.

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17/06/2026

Creditors play a crucial role in voluntary administration. In contrast to the more restrictive provisions for liquidations, both unsecured and secured creditors are invited to participate in this process.[1] This article outlines some of the main rights of creditors in relation to voluntary administration as set out in the Companies Act 1993 (the Act).

- Creditors may vote at the first creditors’ meeting, which the administrator is required to call under section 239AN(1) of the Act. The purpose of this meeting is twofold:

- To decide whether to appoint a creditors’ committee and, if so, to appoint its members; and

- To decide whether to replace the administrator.

- A resolution is adopted if a majority in number representing 75% in value of the creditors or class of creditors voting in person, or by proxy vote or by postal vote, vote in favour of the resolution.

Read the full article by Waterstone junior in-house counsel, Airu Teng

Creditors’ rights in voluntary administrations

16/06/2026

One of the common defences raised to a claim made by a liquidator that a transaction is voidable is that the transaction forms part of a continuing business relationship, also known as a running account.

The Court of Appeal case Timberworld Ltd v Levin [2015] NZCA 111 is the leading case in New Zealand on running accounts, and sets out the key features of a running account at paragraph [34].

Essentially, what this means is if a supplier receives payments from an insolvent company in the weeks or months prior to its liquidation, these would usually be voidable. However, if the payments received by the supplier are then followed by the supplier continuing to supply goods or services to the insolvent company, they are not individually voidable.

Read the full article by Waterstone senior analyst, Stan Denisenkov

As economic pressures continue to impact businesses across New Zealand, employees should be aware of their rights and entitlements in the event that their

15/06/2026

They go by various names: ‘overdrawn shareholder current account’, ‘shareholder loan’, but it’s the same thing, you borrowed some money from your own company, and now the government wants you to pay it back, or pay the taxes.

For many, the first word of the crackdown came with Nicola Willis’ Budget on 28 May. But it was telegraphed last year, and, as announced, it is markedly more lenient than what IRD originally recommended.

Read the full article by Waterstone Christchurch manager, Peter Drennan

They go by various names: ‘overdrawn shareholder current account’, ‘shareholder loan’, but it’s the same thing, you borrowed some money from your own company,