4.
Panel for non-summary company liquidations established
The Official Receiver (OR), Mr Robin Hearder, and the President of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants (HKSA), Mr Brian Stevenson, today (Tuesday) announced the establishment of the Administrative Panel of Insolvency Practitioners for the Court Winding-Up of Companies for non-summary company liquidations.
Mr Hearder explained that the scheme was not a licensing scheme, and merely involved the registration by the OR of member firms of HKSA, which possessed the necessary expertise and resources to form a panel.
Under the scheme, when statutory meetings of creditors and contributories in non-summary company liquidations (having net estimated realisable assets of more than $200,000) are called, the OR will inform the persons attending that except for public interest cases, they have a choice whether an application should be made to the court to appoint a liquidator in place of the OR.
If they want a liquidator other than the OR, the OR will recommend that the appointment be given to the firms listed on the Panel.
Creditors in non-summary cases may in some instances choose not to appoint someone other than the OR as the liquidator.
The OR will advise creditors in such cases that if they do appoint the OR as liquidator, he will promptly apply to the court to appoint special managers from the Panel under Section 216 of the Companies Ordinance.
The appointment will be allocated to a firm on the Panel, based on a roster of firm names arranged in alphabetical order. Firms which join the Panel after the roster has begun will be placed at the end of the list in the order of their admission.
It should be noted that in some instances, creditors may wish to appoint an accountant not on the Panel. Subject to producing satisfactory affidavits of fitness, a suitable bond to the satisfaction of the OR, and the discretion of the court, there is nothing to prevent them doing so.
The Panel will be managed by the OR and member firms must possess four main criteria of expertise and resources to be admitted.