trustee appointed in another case. In addition to the foregoing, 13 Bankruptcy Notices were filed, of which one was subsequently withdrawn.
109. The number of petitions for the compulsory winding up of companies was 19, the same as 1964-65. To these 19 there fell to be added seven pending from 1964-65, making in all 26 petitions before the Court. Five were dismissed by consent, seven were withdrawn, and five were pending at 31st March 1966. Winding-up Orders were made in the remaining nine cases, which included The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Limited, to which more detailed reference is made in paragraphs 112-114. The Official Receiver was appointed Liquidator in all but one of these cases.
110. Table XX shows the estimated assets and liabilities in the 27 bankruptcies and nine compulsory liquidations in respect of which orders were made during the year, classified according to trades and occupations. The estimated liabilities totalled $188,505,819 and the estimated assets $113,454,638. These estimates, however, are based on information given by the debtors and are seldom reliable indications of the true position.
111. Table XXI sets out for the purpose of comparison the numbers of bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations in the years from 1956-57 to 1965-66, together with the estimated liabilities and assets.
The Canton Trust and Commercial Bank, Limited
112. This case is in terms of estimated liabilities (in the region of $152,000,000) by far the largest liquidation ever handled by the Official Receiver's Office in Hong Kong. Because of the very large number of creditors involved (over 73,200) it was necessary for the Official Receiver as Liquidator of the Company to obtain from the Court a Regulating Order as provided for in the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 1965, which was enacted for just such a case as this. In order to relieve hardship among depositors and others whose funds had been frozen by the liquidation and who might need money im- mediately, the Government agreed to lend the Liquidator up to $30,000,000 to enable a first dividend of 25% to be paid. The Liquida- tor in fact drew $22,500,000 and this, along with other sums received by the Liquidator, enabled a first dividend of 25% to be paid between 26th July and 20th September 1965. The course of events in this liquidation was therefore the reverse of the usual, in that a dividend
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