Time for a really determined review of the law so that trusts can not be misused by crooks to keep the spoils of their dishonesty.
Today's NBR report on Mrs Hotchin's court performance reminded me, though Mr Hotchins may yet be found not guilty for his role in Nathan's Finance. Whatever the Hotchins' virtues or lack of them, the report does not make happy reading.
The review should be commissioned from a lawyer with a genuine love for these wonderful creations of the common law system, perhaps working with someone with a passionate hatred of the kinds of scumbags who give the corporate world a bad name. I keep meaning to complete a proposal for the Minister of Commerce. It would be worthwhile work.
Self-dealing (related party transactions) is the Achilles heel of limited liability capitalism. When looted assets are siphoned into trusts, public outrage is fully justified.
So the law needs more effective tools to protect honest uses of trusts from the hostility to trusts that will someday flower into a populist measure that could knacker them.
There are long traditions of throwing baby out with the bathwater, in disgust. Dishonest uses of trusts engender disgust. Time to make it more risky and expensive to abuse the trust vehicle, saving it for its proper purposes.
RSS feeds available for 
Could you please put my name forward for the position of 'person with a passionate hatred of the kinds of scumbags who give the corporate world a bad name'. I am serious about this.
I've had years of dealing with a civil case involving one of these charming people and although we've got lots of issues with the whole judicial process, one of the biggest problems is their use of trusts. We're already approaching the Minister of Justice through our MP and will be contacting media soon.
I feel I have a lot of input for this and I think I can add an intelligent alternative voice to the discussion.