USG Federal Bankruptcy Update: A creditor meeting will be held on October 16 to discuss the issue of liquidator compensation!

According to the latest news, BRI Ferrier, Special Administrator of Union Standard International Group Pty Limited (“the Company”) has issued a "Initial Report to Creditors Under Insolvency Practice Rules 70-30" . According to the updated content in the report, there are two main aspects that need your attention: Notice of Meeting of Creditors and Upay Funds.

The latest "Preliminary Report Submitted to Creditors" can be found on the BRI Ferrier website: http://briferrier.com.au/about-us/current-matters/union-standard-international-group-pty-ltd

The key points of this update are as follows:

1. Creditors creditors of the Company-place and main points of the meeting (coming soon)

Notice is now given that a meeting of the creditors of the Company will be held on Friday, 16 October 2020 at 2.00PM (AEDT). Due to COVID-19 and the resulting Government policy on the restriction of social gatherings, this meeting will be held virtually. There will be no physical location for the meeting. Creditors are requested to register to attend the meeting via the following link:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYlceCuqTIuHtSYqdcDOvMEEUcuftJjLOfh

Registrations for the meeting will close at 4:00PM (AEDT) on 15 October 2020. Any registrations received after this deadline will not be approved.

Meeting points

1.To receive the Report of the Joint and Several Liquidators and receive questions from creditors.

2.To consider, and if thought fit, approve the accrued remuneration of the Joint and Several Voluntary Administrators.

3.To consider, and if thought fit, approve the accrued remuneration of the Joint and Several Liquidators.

4.To consider, and if thought fit, approve the future remuneration of the Joint and Several Liquidators.

5.To consider the internal disbursements of the Joint and Several Liquidators.

6.To consider the appointment of a Committee of Inspection.

7.To consider any other business that may be lawfully brought forward. Notes:

Attendance at this meeting is not compulsory. Creditors may attend and vote in person, by proxy or by attorney. The appointment of a proxy must be in the approved form.

A special proxy can be lodged showing approval or rejection of each resolution. Proxy forms must be given to the Liquidators or the person named as convening the meeting. An attorney of the creditor must show the instrument by which he or she is appointed to the Chairperson of the meeting, prior to the commencement of the meeting.

Special Instructions for the Meeting

Those wishing to attend must register to attend the meeting at the above link.

Please confirm that you have completed a Formal Proof of Debt Form (including documentation to support your claim) and proxy form, if you are a corporate creditor or wish to be represented by another person.

Note that if you have already lodged a Proof of Debt Form you do not need to submit a new Form. However, Proxy Forms submitted for the previous meeting are no longer valid for this meeting.

Upon receipt of a valid Formal Proof of Debt Form and Proxy, a link to access the virtual meeting will be emailed to you. This link will be unique for each attendee and unable to be shared with other parties.

Creditors attending the meeting are requested to join the virtual meeting from 1.30PM (AEDT) to ensure that their paperwork is in order to be admitted to the virtual meeting room and to ensure a prompt start to the meeting.

Telephone dial-in details will also be available for the virtual meeting. Those wishing to attend via telephone will also be required to complete the above registration process.

2. Lack of funds-about 14 million Australian dollars held by UPay or non-existent

​During our appointment, we secured the available assets of the Company, being operational and trust funds held with Australian banks and offshore liquidity providers, in total being around AUD11M. However, we have been unable to secure the major asset on the Company’s balance sheet, being funds held with offshore Money Processors. The largest Money Processor was known as “UPay” which reportedly held approximately AUD14M as at our appointment. UPay have failed to respond to any of our correspondence to date, and now appears to be defunct. We have conducted extensive investigations into UPay, including retaining external investigators, and it appears the UPay may not be a legitimate business and may in fact be controlled by the Shareholder. We are currently considering the ramifications of this as many clients had deposited funds with ‘UPay’ which may now be unrecoverable.

For more information, please visit the BRI Ferrier website: http://briferrier.com.au/about-us/current-matters/union-standard-international-group-pty-ltd