fourteen more than in 1966-67. With one petition pending from 1966-67 there were accordingly in all thirty petitions before the Court. Nineteen Receiving Orders and three Administration Orders were made, four petitions were withdrawn, one petition was dismissed, and three petitions were pending at 31st March 1968. One case in which a Receiving Order had been made in 1966-67 was rescinded during the year. Adjudication Orders were made in eighteen of the 1967-68 cases, and the Official Receiver was appointed Trustee in all of these. Since 1959 there have been only two cases in which the Official Receiver was not appointed Trustee.
111. There were thirty-nine petitions for the compulsory winding-up of companies, thirteen more than in 1966-67. To these thirty-nine there fell to be added five pending from 1966-67, making in all forty-four petitions before the Court. Two were dismissed by consent, eleven were withdrawn, and six were pending at 31st March 1968. Winding-up Orders were made in the remaining twenty-five cases and the Official Receiver was appointed Liquidator in all of these.
112. Table XXIV shows the estimated assets and liabilities in the twenty-two bankruptcies and twenty-five compulsory liquidations in respect of which orders were made during the year, classified according to trades and occupations. The estimated liabilities totalled $63,527,868 and the estimated assets $7,882,208. These estimates are based on in- formation given by the debtors and are seldom reliable indications of the true position.
Comparison with Previous Years
113. Table XXV sets out for the purpose of comparison the numbers of bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations in the years from 1958-59 to 1967-68 together with the aggregate amounts of the estimated liabilities and assets. This shows that 1967-68 had the highest number of cases in the decade, exceeding the previous highest in 1965-66 by no fewer than 14 cases, and the second highest total liabilities being exceeded only by 1965-66, which included the Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Ltd. liquidation. The Table also shows a gradual rise in the number of compulsory liquidations. This is not surprising in view of the number of companies on the Register having almost quadrupled from 3,045 to 11,889 in the decade.
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