what now?, page-111

Received this feedback:

We provide the following update:

1. unclaimed monies have been remitted to ASIC;

1. there are 3,534 magnetic tapes which contain information that relates to the WNG Group of Companies (“the Group”). Those tapes have been identified as follows:

• ATCO tapes – 162 tapes;
• WIPRO tapes – 528 tapes; and
• the Group tapes – 2,844 tapes;

(together “the Tapes”)

1. as matters currently stand, WIPRO Limited (or WIPRO Technologies Australia Pty Limited) (together “WIPRO”) have been paying the storage charges in relation to the Tapes which has resulted in a significant saving for EPS Holders. The Tapes are held with Iron Mountain Australia (“Iron Mountain”);

1. there have been ongoing negotiations with ATCO Limited and ATCO Technologies Australia Pty Limited (together “ATCO”) and WIPRO regarding retention of the information, access to information and the downloading of information on the Tapes. These negotiations have been dealing with ATCO and WIPRO requirements and likely requests for access to retrieve information. A draft Deed has been circulated to the parties in relation to the resolution of the retention, access and ultimate destruction of the information on the Tapes. Once agreement has been reached in principle with WIPRO and ATCO, approval to enter into the agreement will be required to be obtained by the liquidator pursuant to section 477(2)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“the Act”) prior to execution of the agreement. We expect this issue will be finalised by end of July 2017;

1. there is 3,300 boxes of records currently held in storage (“the Records”). In this regard, pursuant to section 542(2) of the Act, where a company has been wound up, the liquidator must keep the books and records of the relevant company for five years from the date of the company’s deregistration. The liquidator may destroy the records after five years, subject to section 262A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (“ITAA”). Pursuant to section 262A of the ITAA, certain records need to be retained for a period of time after an assessment period, or as extended under the ITAA. There are several remaining tax returns that need to be lodged that PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) are to be engaged to prepare and lodge which will then determine the period in which the Records must be held and an arrangement put in place with storage provider(s). Discussions with various parties continue on the necessary arrangements regarding the holding, accessing and destruction of the Records to ensure the most cost effective outcome;

1. meetings and discussions with ATCO, WIPRO and Iron Mountain all occurred in May 2017; and

1. there have been various discussions with PwC regarding the terms of their retainer. One of the more difficult issues that has arisen is the fact that PwC will only enter into a retainer that limits their liability in relation to the advice to be provided. We note this advice will include, without limitation:

• the franking credits available to the former EPS Holders from the distributions from AET&D Holdings No 4 Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (“No 4”), AET&D Holdings No 3 Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (“No 3”) and AET&D Holdings No 2 Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) (“No 2”);
• the withholding tax on any distribution(s) from No 4, No 3 and No 2;
• tax payable on the distribution to the EPS Holders;
• the minimum time periods that funds must be held by RMG Promisor Pty Limited (“RMG Promisor”) to enable the maximum distribution to EPS Holders; and
• any tax effect of the “upstreaming” of dividends from No 4, No 3, No 2 and then to EPS Holders.

We believe the final issues on the PwC retainer have now been resolved to enable the relevant advices and tax returns to be provided.

All of the above needs to be attended to prior to finalisation of the liquidations and the payment of funds to RMG Promisor for distribution to the EPS Holders.

I will provide you with an update as matters progress.

Kind regards,

Jessica Widjaja