Castelo Concepts closes 9 restaurants
26 July 2023, Hong Kong – Briscoe Wong Advisory Limited is assisting with the liquidation of Castelo Investments Limited, Bringsky Investment Limited, Happy Dragon Hong Kong Limited and Max Ocean Group Limited. The following nine restaurants operated by the companies ceased business on 26 July 2023:- Name of Restaurant Address Jaspa’s Unit B, G/F, Manhattan…
Continue ReadingPress Release – Divine Food Service Limited (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation) trading as Crostini
7 November 2022, Hong Kong – Woody’s Company Limited is interested in purchasing all the unexpired vouchers issued by Divine Food Service Limited (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation) trading as Crostini. The purchaser will only purchase original vouchers with an expiry date on or after 14 September 2022. Eligible vouchers will be purchased based on the full…
Continue ReadingWe’re Moving to North Point
Our office address is now Room 818, 8/F, China United Centre, 28 Marble Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
Continue ReadingBankruptcy Discharge in Hong Kong – Update
HK Bankruptcy Discharge Objections: A Word to the Wise by Wong Teck Meng Prior to 1998 it was relatively rare for a person in Hong Kong who was made bankrupt 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…
Continue ReadingBankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015
By Rosenna Mak In a previous post in November 2015 entitled “Bankruptcy – The Unconstitutionality of the Discharge Provisions”, we referred to a draft Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 being put before LegCo for the purpose of addressing the CFA’s ruling on the unconstitutionality of certain of the existing discharge provisions. On 17 March 2016, LegCo…
Continue ReadingCleaning Up Corporate Structures
As a business grows, there is a tendency for its corporate structure to grow with it. Over time, as the business matures, that structure may need to change to be more responsive to the ongoing needs of the business. Every so often it is useful to stand back and review the corporate structure, to rationalise…
Continue ReadingUpdates to the Winding-up Provisions of C(WUMP)O – An Opportunity Lost?
By Stephen Briscoe The Administration has now posted its first substantive response to issues raised in front of the LegCo Bills Committee back in November 2015. Here is a link to the response, but in truth it paints quite a dismal picture. First Meeting of Creditors in a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) Concerns have been expressed regarding…
Continue ReadingCosts Orders Against Liquidators – Or Not!
By Stephen Briscoe The application in this case was to join a funder as a party to an action commenced by the liquidators, the purpose being to make the funder and the liquidators jointly and severally liable for the costs of the unsuccessful action. The action had been commenced by the liquidators to challenge certain…
Continue ReadingBankruptcy – The Unconstitutionality of the Discharge Provisions
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 ReadingC(WUMP)O: The Dark Side
By Stephen Briscoe Our previous posts have focused on the proposed changes to Hong Kong’s insolvency regime which are scheduled to come before LegCo in the next few months. This post is going to look at the “darker side”, (no, not Kowloon) to use the Star Wars metaphor; i.e. what is missing from the proposals;…
Continue ReadingDraft CVL Bill Open to Abuse
By Stephen Briscoe The draft bill was put into the public domain on 10 July with an 18 day period for parties to make representations. The draft bill runs to 77 pages, whilst the draft notes run to another 20 pages. To suggest that a draft bill that, (it must be assumed), has been several…
Continue ReadingDischarge From Bankruptcy – The Latest
By Rosenna Mak Although we are still waiting for the Court of Final Appeal to hear arguments regarding the constitutionality or otherwise of the discharge provisions contained in s.30A(10)(a) of the Bankruptcy Ordinance, the Administration has already responded to the decision, see here, by placing before LegCo a draft bill which is aimed squarely at…
Continue ReadingBankruptcy – The Matrimonial Home
By Nichole Chan Whose interests should prevail in bankruptcy: the interests of the bankrupt’s creditors or his/her innocent spouse and dependents? A recent case before the Hong Kong Court confirmed that, in the majority of cases, it is the former When the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Ordinance (“BO”) was introduced in 1998, one of the main changes…
Continue ReadingDraft Changes to HK’s Insolvency Regime – Part V
The 5th article in our series on proposed changes to Hong Kong’s insolvency regime. By Stephen Briscoe Floating Charges At present, if a floating charge is created within 12 months of the commencement of the liquidation it is deemed to be invalid except to the extent of any new money advanced at the time of…
Continue ReadingLiquidators & Committees of Inspection
By Stephen Briscoe Conduct of the Winding Up Committee Of Inspection As part of the proposed changes, the Administration has made a number of sensible suggestions that are likely to improve the interaction between liquidators and Committees Of Inspection. For the sake of clarity, the new proposals will provide for the minimum and maximum number…
Continue ReadingWhen is a Liquidator Not a Liquidator?
By Stephen Briscoe Inducements Together with the changes mentioned in our previous post, the proposals will also “beef-up” the existing prohibition on inducements being offered in relation to the appointment of provisional liquidators, liquidators and receivers. These amendments are to be welcomed, but in truth there is little evidence that the existing provisions do not…
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 ReadingWinding Up – Moving Colonial Legislation into the New Century
By Stephen Briscoe The existing provisions dealing with the winding-up of companies in Hong Kong are still largely based on the 1948 Companies Act from the UK. Of course, there have been changes over the years, but generally these haven’t been material and so we continue to use the legislation first enacted almost 70 years…
Continue ReadingSmall Practitioners – Stealing a Marketing March
By Stephen Briscoe This article is reprinted with permission from INSOL World magazine This is the first of two articles written from the perspective of a small firm practitioner working in a close-knit, but highly competitive market. It is a fact of life that smaller firms do not have the financial “clout” to challenge their larger competitors, particularly when it…
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 ReadingInsolvent Trading – The Last Piece of HK’s Corporate Rescue Puzzle
By Stephen Briscoe In the eyes of many people in Hong Kong, the most important part of the new corporate rescue legislation is that relating to Insolvent Trading. Very similar to Wrongful Trading in the UK, the purpose of this legislation is to encourage directors of distressed companies to act sooner rather than later, and…
Continue ReadingProvisional Supervision in Hong Kong: Employees’ Pre-Appointment Entitlements
By Stephen Briscoe The treatment of employees and their pre-appointment entitlements is the issue which has caused the previous two failures of this legislation to pass through LegCo. Before considering the current provisions it is worth asking why this part of the proposed legislation has caused so much angst and why it has delayed the…
Continue ReadingProvisional Supervision – Meetings, Stress and Snail Mail
Provisional Supervision – Meetings of Creditors and Investigation Powers by Stephen Briscoe First Meeting of Creditors The provisional supervisor is required to convene a first meeting of creditors within 10 business days of the date of his appointment. He must give at least seven days notice of this meeting and although the draft proposals make…
Continue ReadingWho can be Appointed as Provisional Supervisor in Hong Kong?
By Stephen Briscoe Based on the Hong Kong government’s latest proposals, the only people who will be eligible to be appointed as provisional supervisors will be Certified Public Accountants or solicitors with practising certificates. They will be regulated respectively by the HKICPA and the Law Society of Hong Kong. Surprisingly, in view of the potential…
Continue ReadingHong Kong’s Provisional Supervision Plans, in Plain English
By Stephen Briscoe Hong Kong’s proposed new legislation on Provisional Supervision and Insolvent Trading has been in the pipeline for the last 20 years or so but before groaning “Oh no, not again,” this time there seems to be a genuine will on the part of the Administration to press ahead with bringing it back…
Continue ReadingProvisional Supervision – The Latest Chapter
Following the latest round of consultations, the administration has issued it’s latest views on Provisional Supervision and Insolvent Trading. It has been tweaked a little from its most recent incarnation back in 2011, but in most respects it’s very similar. We understand from the grapevine that it’s going to be introduced to LegCo in the…
Continue ReadingNew Companies Ordinance Winding Up and Insolvency Conclusions Published
As most of you are aware, earlier this year the new Companies Ordinance came into force. At that time the parts of the old Companies Ordinance that had not been amended, effectively s.166 onwards, were renamed as The Companies (Winding-up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance – just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it?? Following a period…
Continue ReadingBankruptcy – Adjustment of Priority of Creditors’ Costs
The question recently arose in Hong Kong whether a creditor, who has taken action prior to the start of a bankruptcy and whose actions have resulted in the preservation of assets for the general body of creditors, should be able to receive any priority in respect of the costs they have incurred. Strictly there is…
Continue ReadingDischarge From Bankruptcy or Trustee Forever!!
By Rosenna Mak Following the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Ordinance 1996, which came into effect on 1 April 1998, the concept of a bankrupt being entitled to an automatic discharge was introduced to allow a bankrupt to become financially rehabilitated. Under the new provisions, a bankrupt is automatically discharged unless the trustee or a creditor objects. A…
Continue ReadingProvisional Supervision Bill: Signs of Commitment?
More on Provisional Supervision and Insolvent Trading by: Stephen Briscoe The administration has now embarked on another round of consultations on the proposed corporate rescue bill and the sense is that there is a real commitment on the part of the government to push through with its implementation after two previously unsuccessful attempts. There remain…
Continue ReadingOfficial Receiver’s Panel Scheme Tender for 2014
The Race To The Bottom Continues Another year another tender. Well, not quite. In this case the tender only comes around every two years, but one thing that doesn’t change is the inexorable downward pressure on fees. For this year’s tender, the average is HK$1,600, slightly below the 2012 average of HK$1,768. Individual tenders ranged…
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 ReadingS.228A Liquidations – Take Care!
Recently, the Court was asked to consider the circumstances in which it was appropriate to use the s.228A procedure to place a company into liquidation. Given that liquidations started using this procedure are relatively infrequent, it is unusual to see the question of its use come before the court. The background was that as a…
Continue ReadingTo Sue or not to Sue – A Liquidators’ Perspective
By Wong Teck Meng & Derek Lam Time and time again liquidators of insolvent companies and trustees of bankrupts are faced with potential litigation which they must decide whether to commence or continue. This is the first of two posts which aims to put into perspective the risks faced by liquidators and trustees alike and…
Continue ReadingUpdating the Companies Ordinance
A Missed Opportunity Republished with permission. This article first appeared in INSOL World magazine Q4 2013 By: Stephen Briscoe and Nichole Chan, BWA Hong Kong’s efforts to modernize the city’s corporate insolvency laws have resurfaced almost two decades after the city government first launched a comprehensive review of the legislation in the mid-90s, but then…
Continue ReadingProvisional Liquidators’ Agent’s Fees: Taxed or Not?
Are the fees of agents appointed by s.193 provisional liquidators (“PLs”) subject to taxation? It appears that two recent judgments have produced conflicting decisions. So what is the latest position? Taking a step back, how are the PLs appointed under s.193 remunerated? The CO is silent in this regard and as a result the Court…
Continue ReadingPanel T Appointments – The Dilemma
In 1996 Hong Kong’s Official Receiver’s Office (“ORO”) introduced what was known at the time and still is for that matter, as Panel A (Administrative Panel of Insolvency Practitioners for Court Winding-Up). Panel A, as many readers will know, was designed to enable non-summary liquidations i.e. those with assets in excess of $200,000 to be…
Continue ReadingProposed Companies (Residential Addresses and Identification Numbers) Regulation
As part of moves to implement the revamped Companies Ordinance, the government is putting in place various subsidiary legislation, one of which – “Companies (Residential Addresses and Identification Numbers) Regulation” – has recently garnered a lot of public criticism. Under the proposed new law, personal information of directors and individuals (i.e. alternate directors and company…
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…
Continue ReadingHong Kong Diploma in Insolvency
The results of the 2010/11 Diploma in Insolvency programme are now out and it is with great pleasure that we can announce that our own Nichole Chan and Rosenna Mak both passed the Diploma course, so congratulations to both of them. In particular, it is worth noting that Nichole won 2nd prize. Many congratulations to…
Continue ReadingProtection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (Update 1)
A few weeks ago we drew attention to the proposed changes to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (“PWIF”) which would mean that employees could be paid up to a maximum of HK$10,500 by the PWIF in respect of unpaid holiday pay. This was seen as a very positive move designed to give further…
Continue ReadingProvisional Liquidators Appointed in Yu Kee Food
On 19 August 2011, Mr Stephen Briscoe and Ms Chan Pui Sze, both of Briscoe Wong Advisory, were appointed joint and several provisional liquidators of Yu Kee Food Company Limited (“Yu Kee”) by the High Court of the Hong Kong SAR. Yu Kee was established in 1990 and is one of the key food chain stores…
Continue ReadingProtection of Wages on Insolvency Fund
The Hong Kong government is going to amend the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund legislation to allow payments to be made to employees of insolvent companies in respect of unpaid holiday pay. Employees who are owed wages, wages in lieu of notice and severance pay by insolvent employers may apply for ex gratia payments…
Continue ReadingProvisional Supervision in Hong Kong
You might remember in early 2009 the fanfare that greeted the government’s proposals to re-introduce Provisional Supervision. Well, we are now over two years down the road, with a lengthy consultation period behind us, only to find that the bill will not now be going before Legco for the present session that ends in mid-2012….
Continue ReadingSpecialist Designation in Insolvency
The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) awarded the first Specialist Designations in Insolvency at a ceremony on 27 June 2011 at The JW Marriott Hotel. The event was attended by more than 100 members of the insolvency and corporate recovery profession in Hong Kong including solicitors, barristers, accountants, bankers and others in…
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