relief under s 89 of the trustees act 1962 (WA)
19 I deal firstly with the application for relief under s 89 of the Trustees Act (WA).
20 The application for relief under this section of the Trustees Act (WA) is founded on the liquidators' concern that they lacked the power to sell the Finplas plant and equipment in March 2013.
21 The liquidators' application mirrors applications which have been made by liquidators in similar circumstances in the cases of Caterpillar Financial Australia Ltd v Ovens Nominees Pty Ltd [2011] FCA 677 (Caterpillar), Re Starrit Pty Ltd [2012] FCA 803 and Suncoast.
22 The authorities relevant to this issue have, with respect, been well canvassed in the cases referred to in the preceding paragraph. This relieves me from the necessity of having to embark upon that exercise in this case.
23 In brief, the position in relation to Finplas and the liquidators is as follows:
(a) As the trustee of the Finplas Trading Trust, Finplas had a right of indemnity and/or exoneration in respect of any liabilities which it incurred in the conduct of trust business. This right entitled the trustee to resort to the trust assets in order to meet any liabilities which it had or may incur in the conduct of trust business. Finplas was also entitled to the benefit of an equitable lien over the trust assets as a means of securing its rights of indemnity and/or exoneration.
(b) The trustee's equitable lien in support of its right of indemnity and/or exoneration is enforceable by the trustee only by judicial sale or the appointment of a receiver and not by foreclosure, or by sale out of court (Lemery Holdings Pty Ltd v Reliance Financial Services Pty Ltd (2008) 74 NSWLR 550).
(c) Pursuant to the operation of cl 16.3 of the Finplas Trading Trust deed, Finplas was removed as trustee of the Finplas Trading Trust on the appointment of the liquidators on 15 March 2013. The consequence was that from that date Finplas held the trust assets as a bare trustee.
(d) Mr Sayed Hosseini, the appointor under the Finplas Trading Trust, gave evidence to the effect that it had never been his intention on 15 March 2013, nor at any time thereafter, to appoint a replacement trustee of the Finplas Trading Trust. Mr Hosseini said that his intention from 15 March 2013 onwards has been for the liquidators to liquidate the affairs of Finplas and the Finplas Trading Trust.
(e) Notwithstanding its removal as trustee of the Finplas Trading Trust, Finplas continued, thereafter, to have the benefit of its right of indemnity and/or exoneration in respect of liabilities which Finplas had incurred in the conduct of the trust business. Finplas also enjoyed the continuing benefit of the equitable lien over the trust assets in support of its rights of indemnity and/or exoneration.
(f) Furthermore, by reason of its equitable lien, Finplas had a right to retain possession of the trust assets as against the beneficiaries of the Finplas Trading Trust, even after its removal as trustee of that trust. However, in this case, the beneficiaries had no residual entitlement to the trust assets. This is because the trust assets were the subject of Finplas's right to indemnity and/or exoneration and the liabilities incurred by Finplas in respect of which the right of indemnity and/or exoneration operated, exceeded the value of the trust assets.
(g) On their appointment, the liquidators acquired the benefit of the trustee's right of indemnity and/or exoneration and the equitable lien which supported these rights. However, as a bare trustee of the trust assets, the Finplas did not have a power to sell trust assets. Nor, as I have mentioned, did Finplas have the right to sell the assets by reason of its entitlement to an equitable lien over the assets, save with the assistance of a court. This is because Finplas's rights pursuant to its entitlement to an equitable lien was confined to applying to court for a judicial sale of the assets, or for the appointment of a receiver.
(h) It follows, therefore, that in March 2013, when they arranged for Grays Auctioneers to sell the Finplas plant and equipment, the liquidators did not have the power to sell those assets in that manner.
24 Section 89 of the Trustees Act (WA) provides as follows:
(1) Where in the opinion of the Court any sale, lease, mortgage, surrender, release or other disposition, or any purchase, investment, acquisition, retention, expenditure or other transaction is expedient in the management or administration of any property vested in a trustee, or would be in the best interests of the persons, or the majority of the persons, beneficially interested under the trust, but it is inexpedient or difficult or impracticable to effect the disposition or transaction without the assistance of the Court, or it or they cannot be effected by reason of the absence of any power for that purpose vested in the trustee by the trust instrument (if any) or by law, the Court may by order confer upon the trustee, either generally or in any particular instance, the necessary power for the purpose, on such terms, and subject to such provisions and conditions (if any) as the Court may think fit, and may direct in what manner any money authorised to be expended, and the costs of any transaction, are to be paid or borne, and as to the incidence thereof between capital and income.
(2) The Court may from time to time rescind or vary any order made under this section, or may make any new or further order; but such a rescission or variation of any order shall not affect any act or thing done in reliance on the order before the person doing the act or thing became aware of the application to the Court to rescind or vary the order.
(3) An order may be made under this section, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained or expressed in the instrument creating the trust.
(4) An application to the Court under this section may be made by the trustees, or by any of them, or by any person beneficially interested under the trust.
25 In Caterpillar, Gordon J granted relief under s 63 of the Trustees Act 1958 (Vic) (the equivalent section in Victoria to s 89 of the Trustees Act (WA)) in respect of the sale by a liquidator of a corporate trustee of a BMW motor vehicle at a time when the corporate trustee had been removed as the trustee of a trading trust and, therefore, lacked the power of sale. Gordon J held that in those circumstances, it was appropriate for the court to confer upon the corporate trustee under s 63, and so upon the liquidator, the power of sale. The effect of Gordon J's order was retrospectively to empower of the trustee and so the liquidator to sell the BMW vehicle.
26 Likewise, in Suncoast, Reeves J in similar circumstances made an order having the same effect under the equivalent section, s 94 of the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld), in respect of a sale of trust assets which had already occurred. Reeves J at [62] recognised that the Act permitted an order to be made under that section which operated retrospectively to empower the trustee to sell the trust property.
27 In each of those cases, as in this case, the appointor under the trust deed had declined to appoint a trustee to replace the removed trustee.
28 I am also of the view that it is appropriate to make the orders sought by the liquidators under s 89 of the Trustees Act (WA). This is because it is plain that the sale of the Finplas plant and equipment was expedient in the administration of the property vested in Finplas and that the assistance of the Court is necessary to effect the disposition of the property.