About Jacques McElhone
Jacques is an experienced disputes lawyer who specialises in restructuring and insolvency, and commercial litigation and investigations.
He has a broad practice in restructuring and insolvency, including in distressed situations, restructures, insolvency pre-planning and formal insolvency processes. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association.
He also acts in complex commercial litigation and regulatory investigations for clients across a range of industries, including financial services (with particular expertise in market misconduct issues), healthcare, technology and telecommunications, construction, mining and resources and professional services.
Jacques' recent experience includes:
Restructuring and insolvency
- NAB: security and enforcement advice across a broad range of matters and client sectors
- Ernst & Young: acting for EY as voluntary administrators in relation to the successful sale of an aged care business
- Toyota Finance: acting on various security and enforcement matters, including for the receivers of various car dealerships
- Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal: acting for the Senior Financiers on restructuring of the senior debt (via a creditors’ scheme of arrangement)
- Woori Bank: successful defence of an unfair preference claim
- Property developer: advising a large overseas property developer on enforcement action over a master-planned residential development in NSW
- Australia Post: acting on issues relating to Armaguard's cash distribution business.
Commercial litigation, regulatory investigations & class actions
- Westpac: defence of ASIC civil penalty proceedings regarding a $12bn interest rate swap entered into as part of the privatisation of NSW electricity provider Ausgrid, which included allegations of insider trading, unconscionable conduct and breaches of financial services licensee obligations
- ANZ: defence of ASIC civil penalty proceedings in relation to reporting of secondary market bond turnover data to the AOFM, including allegations of misleading or deceptive conduct, failure to breach report and breaches of Australian financial services licensee obligations
- RAMS Financial Group: defending RAMS (Westpac subsidiary) in a class action and separate proceedings brought by former RAMS franchisees alleging wrongful termination of their franchise agreements
- NAB: defence of class action against NAB superannuation trustees brought by 330,000 fund members in relation to the transition to MySuper
- Aveo: defence of multiple court proceedings and expert determinations relating to the development of a retirement living complex in Springfield
- Major financial institutions: acting for a range of banks and superannuation trustees in relation to internal, ASIC and APRA investigations, particularly on market misconduct issues
- KPMG: defence of complex tax negligence claim regarding ALS.