By Rosenna Mak The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (“CFA”) recently upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal and ruled that s.30A(10)(a) of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (“BO”) is unconstitutional. To recap; s.30A(10)(a) of the BO provides that the bankruptcy period does not start running if a bankrupt has left Hong Kong before the…
Continue ReadingPotentially Voidable Transactions in Hong Kong Liquidations
By Wong Teck Meng In recent months we have come across several situations where directors of companies have got themselves into difficulties – simply because they were trying to help the company get out of its difficulties. In this post we will explain how those difficulties arose and offer some practical advice as to how…
Continue ReadingMore Disclosure by Liquidators of Hong Kong Companies Ordinance
More Disclosure for Liquidators; Should Insolvency Practitioners be Licensed? – (The Correct Answer is Yes!) By Stephen Briscoe Who Can Act As A Liquidator This section of the Administration’s proposals focuses on the appointment and control of provisional liquidators and liquidators. There are a number of sensible suggestions about establishing those categories of people who should not…
Continue ReadingBankruptcy Discharge – Thorny Issues
By Stephen Briscoe Prior to 1998 it was relatively rare for a person who was made bankrupt in Hong Kong ever to get their discharge from bankruptcy. This was because they had to satisfy a number of strict criteria, which for most bankrupts were impossible to achieve. With the introduction of the automatic discharge provision…
Continue ReadingConstitutionality of Bankruptcy Discharge Provisions Challenged (update)
By Rosenna Mak Just a brief update on our article entitled “Constitutionality of Bankruptcy Discharge Provisions Challenged” published last month reporting that section 30A(10)(a) of the Bankruptcy Ordinance had been ruled to be unconstitutional by the Court of Appeal. Due the significance of that ruling, a stay of the execution of the judgement was granted,…
Continue ReadingConstitutionality of Bankruptcy Discharge Provisions Challenged
S.30A(10)(a) of the Bankruptcy Ordinance is Challenged – Unconstitutional By Stephen Briscoe and Rosenna Mak A few months ago, we published an article entitled “Discharge from Bankruptcy or Trustee Forever” where we discussed the position of the release of a trustee when the debtor was not in the jurisdiction at the time of the bankruptcy order…
Continue ReadingHK’s New Companies Ordinance a Mouthful
Hong Kong’s new Companies Ordinance (Cap 622) comes into force 3 March 2014. The changes apply primarily to those sections of the Ordinance that deal with, for want of a better phrase, live companies. Those sections of the Ordinance that deal with dead and dying companies will remain unchanged until the current round of consultations…
Continue ReadingProtection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (Update 2)
The long awaited changes to Hong Kong’s Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (PWIF) have moved one step closer to becoming law. As we explained on 18 October 2011, (read here), the changes will now allow employees to claim from the PWIF up to HK$10,500 in respect of unpaid holiday pay. Previously employees could only…
Continue ReadingResults of the Official Receiver’s Panel T Tender for Summary Liquidations
It’s that time of the year again when the Hong Kong Administration announces the outcome of its latest tender for private-sector firms to undertake summary liquidations. The results of the latest tender can be found here on the Official Receiver’s website. The average tender price in 2010, the last time the tender was held, was…
Continue ReadingRegulating Order Obtained in Yu Kee Food Company Limited
(In Compulsory Liquidation) Following the winding-up of the Company on 29 August 2011, Nichole Chan and Stephen Briscoe were appointed joint and several liquidators of the Company on 26 October 2011. This appointment was made by way of a Regulating Order pursuant to s.227A of the Companies Ordinance. A committee of inspection was also appointed…
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