Seeking Bryers' assets

The assets of bankrupted Blue Chip boss Mark Bryers will come under scrutiny from New Zealand's Official Assignee, even though Bryers lives in Sydney.

Bryers is unlikely to be able to continue as managing director of his property investment company Northern Crest Investments.

Earlier this month Bryers said his only assets were clothes, furniture and a set of golf clubs, and made an 11th hour attempt to appease his creditors, collectively owed $85 million, by offering to repay part of the debt. Instead Bryers was declared bankrupt in the High Court.

That means Bryers can no longer be a director or a shareholder of a company. Cross-border insolvency legislation is not yet operating between New Zealand and Australia, however New Zealand can apply through Australia's Supreme Court to reach assets, including shareholding of companies.

Under Australia's Corporations Act, an undischarged bankrupt is disqualified from managing a company or business.

The Hamilton Official Assignee assigned Bryers' case said his office regularly traced assets overseas in high-profile cases.

Assets disappeared under "nominees, trusts, stooges and the like" but the OA could attack trusts, recovering property or assets which had been "shuffled" into trusts without good reason.