Michael Gu
Michael Gu
Biography
Michael Gu is a litigation lawyer based in Melbourne. He specialises in insolvency, regulatory investigations, and complex commercial disputes in the financial services and insurance sectors.
Michael acts for regulators, government departments, companies, and directors in investigations and civil proceedings. His experience includes matters involving financial services disclosure, market listing rules, conflicted remuneration, directors’ duties, unfair contract terms, and misleading or deceptive conduct.
Michael also acts in complex commercial contract and property disputes and oppression proceedings for companies and high net worth individuals. He acts in insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of creditors and interested parties, and has advised receivers, administrators, and liquidators in their conduct of corporate insolvencies.
Professional experience
Representative experience
Representative experience
- Liquidators and receivers appointed to a large Australian managed investment scheme with property in Australia and abroad – proceedings brought by ASIC and proceedings involving securing and recovering of trust property and investor funds (Federal Court of Australia)
- Liquidators appointed to an investment services and fund management group – an investigation into recipients of investor funds, involving financial crimes and breaches of anti-money-laundering rules
- ASIC – in an investigation and civil penalty proceedings against a listed company and its directors for breaches of continuous disclosure rules (Supreme Court of New South Wales)
- ASIC – in an investigation and civil penalty proceedings against a major bank for insider trading, unconscionable conduct and contraventions of section 912A of the Corporations Act (Federal Court of Australia)
- ASIC – in an investigation and civil penalty proceedings against a superannuation company and financial services advisor and superannuation trustee for fees for no service and financial services disclosure breaches (Federal Court of Australia)
- ASIC – in an investigation and civil penalty proceedings against an insurer for unfair contract terms and misleading and deceptive conduct (Federal Court of Australia)
- A director of a large financial services company – in civil penalty proceedings against ASIC for breaches of directors' duties (Federal Court of Australia)
- Administrators appointed to entities in a corporate group in the transport, resources and energy sectors – advising in the conduct of the administration and in related proceedings (Federal Court of Australia)
- Energy retailer – defending civil penalty proceedings brought by the ACCC for misleading and deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct (Federal Court of Australia)
- Liquidators appointed to a travel agency company – in a proceeding against a director for insolvent trading and breaches of directors' duties (Federal Court of Australia)
- Large commercial property developers – in proceedings concerning breaches of trust, fundraising, misleading and deceptive conduct, and oppression (Supreme Court of Victoria)
- A member of an Australian football club – in proceedings concerning corporate governance issues, shareholder activism and oppression (Supreme Court of Victoria and Federal Court of Australia)
Education
Education
- Bachelor of Commerce –University of Melbourne (2016)
- Juris Doctor –University of Melbourne (2019)
Admissions
Admissions
- Supreme Court of Victoria 2020
- High Court of Australia 2020
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