New Office Accommodation
111. On 8th December 1968, the Official Receiver's Office at the Central Government Offices Building, West Wing, moved to new accommodation on the 10th floor of Sutherland House, a newly com- pleted commercial building situated at No. 3 Chater Road, Hong Kong. The new office, which provides much improved facilities for the staff as well as the public, has a general office with a desktype reception counter for the public, a well lit reception area, a good size conference room, enlarged storage space, and 16 single rooms for senior officers.
New Cases
112. Thirteen Bankruptcy Notices were filed, and thirteen bank- ruptcy petitions presented during the year, the latter figure being sixteen less than in 1967-68. With three petitions pending from 1967-68 there were accordingly in all sixteen petitions before the Court. Seven Receiving Orders and two Administration Orders were made, four petitions were withdrawn, two petitions were dismissed, and one petition was pending at 31st March 1969. Adjudication Orders were made in four of the 1968-69 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.
113. There were twenty-five petitions for the compulsory winding- up of companies, fourteen less than in 1967-68. To these twenty-five there fell to be added six pending from 1967-68, making in all thirty-one petitions before the Court. One was dismissed, three were withdrawn, one was adjourned sine die, and four were pending at 31st March 1969. Winding-up Orders were made in the remaining twenty-two cases and the Official Receiver was appointed Liquidator in all but two of these. One Winding-up Order made in 1967-68 was stayed during the year.
114. Table XXIV shows the estimated assets and liabilities in the nine bankruptcies and twenty-two compulsory liquidations in respect of which orders were made during the year, classified according to trades and occupations. The estimated liabilities totalled $35,023,709 and the estimated assets $20,769,569. These estimates are based on information given by the debtors and are seldom reliable indications of the true position.
Comparison with Previous Years
115. Table XXV sets out for the purpose of comparison the numbers of bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations in the years
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