In a recent decision in Nipps; Re DKC (WA) Pty Ltd (in liq) [2020] WASC 328, the Supreme Court of Western Australia has ordered that a large jewellery stash be returned by a liquidator to a third party stakeholder who, the court found, had consigned the goods to the company in liquidation.  Blackwall acted for that consignor and successfully obtained the orders requiring the return of the jewellery which according to documents filed in the proceedings had a retail value of almost $3 million.

The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA) requires that certain types of consignment be registered on the Personal Property Securities Register established under that Act.  Even though the consignor had not registered its interest on the Register, the facts revealed that the consignment arrangement has not been entered into for the purposes of securing the payment or performance of an obligation, rather it was merely a common arrangement whereby jewellery is moved between stores and other storage facilities as required for customer viewing and potential sale.

Consequently, despite the fact that the consignment interest may have been a registrable security interest under section 12 of the PPSA, it did not vest in the consignee upon the appointment of liquidators under section 267, because of the exceptions in section 268.

You can read more about the dispute here.